Alessandro Spavone scored twice in three minutes to lead Napoli to a 0-2 victory over Cesena – the Azzurrini’s first win in five matches.
Lineup
Nicolò Frustalupi made three changes to the squad he fielded in Napoli’s 2-3 defeat to Lecce. Benedetto Barba returned to the starting XI, replacing Luigi D’Avino. Meanwhile, Frustalupi changed both of his wingbacks again, starting Davide Acampa and Landry Boni over Enrico Giannini and Lamine Gningue, respectively.
(3-4-2-1) Boffelli; Hysaj, Barba, Obaretin; Acampa, Gioielli, Alastuey, Boni; Sahli, Spavone; Rossi
Match
Napoli started the match well, creating two quality chances in the opening ten minutes. In the 8th minute, Belil Sahli played a low cross into the area. Jorge Alastuey hit the ball first-time with his left, aiming for the far post. At the last second, Leonardi Rossi redirected the shot towards the centre of the goal. Somehow Cesena goalkeeper Lorenzo Pollini kicked the ball away as he was diving to his left.
Two minutes later, Alastuey chipped the ball to Rossi in the area. The striker went for goal, hitting the ball on the bounce, but the shot took a slight deflection and went out or a corner kick.
Cesena didn’t create their first quality chance until just before the midway point of the first half. Midfielder Alessandro Carlini played an inswinging corner kick with his left boot. Right back Simone Pieraccini rose up to win the header but was unable to hit the target.
Neither side created any more chances before Napoli opened the scoring ten minutes later. Nosa Obaretin played a long ball forward to Rossi on the right wing. He did well to hold up the play, before Alessandro Spavone assumed possession. The trequartista dribbled towards the edge of the area before firing a low, hard shot off the upright and into the back of the goal. With his team-leading sixth goal of the season, Spavone gave Napoli a 0-1 lead.
Cesena responded well, nearly equalizing immediately from the restart. Carlini won a header on a Cesena cross from the left wing, but Valerio Boffelli made a fantastic save on the shot that was destined for the top corner. Cesena’s second effort was blocked before Carlini attempted a scissor kick that didn’t miss by much.
Those missed chances proved to be costly, as Napoli doubled their lead only two minutes later. Once again Sahli played a cross from the left wing. This time Cesena cleared the danger, but only so far as Landry Boni at the edge of the area. The right-sided midfielder went for goal and his shot redirected off an unsuspecting Spavone before ending up in the back of the goal. Though he knew little about it, Spavone scored his second brace of the season to put Napoli ahead 0-2.
Napoli nearly scored a third with the final kick of the first half. In the final minute of normal time, Alastuey won a free kick in the middle of the park, approximately 30 yards from the goal. Rossi got his direct free kick up and over the wall, but Pollini stopped the shot as it bounced towards the bottom corner.
The second half began similarly to how the first half ended, with Napoli winning a free kick inside the Cesena half. Spavone whipped a cross into the area and Gioielli flicked his header on target, but Pollini was there to make an important save. Sahli was waiting on the doorstep for the rebound but could not get to the loose ball in time.
As the match wore on, Cesena began to control the tempo, but only managed to create two quality chances. Both emerged from crosses from the left wing. In the 63rd minute, Cesena centre back Antonio David crossed the ball into the area. Striker Luca Polli beat Obaretin to the ball but his header bounced narrowly wide of the near post.
Three minutes later, midfielder Daniele Suliani crossed the ball into the area. This time, winger Adrián Dénes won the header in the area but the ball swerved wide of the top corner.
Things went from bad to worse for Napoli. In the 69th minute, Boni was forced to leave the match with a muscle cramp. However, his replacement, Matteo Marchisano, had a positive influence on the match. In the 84th minute, Marchiasno dribbled past David on Napoli’s right wing before playing a perfectly weighted through-ball to Antonio Pesce in the area. The substitute hit the ball first time but Pollini was quick to get low and made the save.
That was the final chance for either side, as Napoli cruised to a much needed victory, after picking up only one point in their previous four. With the win, combined with Atalanta’s loss to Torino and Milan’s draw to Sampdoria, Napoli moved out of the relegation playout zone.
The Azzurrini will be back in action on Sunday with a match against Sassuolo.
