Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen scored wondergoals as Napoli cruised to their seventh consecutive league victory. Here are three takeaways selected by Forza Napoli Press.
Pick Your Poison
While most clubs defend Napoli in a low block, Alessio Dionisi bravely asked his players to play their game. Though Sassuolo often played with ten men behind the ball, they did not simply drop back and defend (i.e. they defended in a mid block). In fact, they often pressed high. That created a dilemma for the Neroverdi.
When they defended in the mid block, they were faced with a Napoli side who moved quickly, on and off the ball. Led by Stanislav Lobotka, Napoli cycled that ball and stretched the pitch. When the Azzurri’s wingers dropped, they created a numerical advantage in the middle of the park.
When Sassuolo pressed high, they exposed themselves to the long ball over the top. Napoli were quick to recognize the press and exploited it, playing the ball into space for Victor Osimhen to chase. And chase he did. In the 26th minute, Amir Rrahmani launched Osimhen, who took advantage of a mistimed leap from Ruan Tressoldi. The Nigerian dribbled towards the centre of the area before rattling the upright with a left-footed strike. Seven minutes later Osimhen doubled Napoli’s lead on another play that began with a long ball from Rrahmani.
Moments of Magic
Once again, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen lit up the Maradona with moments of magic. Kvaratskhelia paid tribute to the late Napoli legend after whom the stadium was renamed. The Georgian chipped the ball past Maxime Lopez at midfield before sidestepping a slide tackle by Armand Laurienté. The creative winger tiptoed at the edge of the area, wrong-footing both Martin Erlic and Andrea Consigli with a shot into the bottom corner. With his tenth goal of the season, Kvaratskhelia further validated his nickname: Kvaradona.
Not to be outdone, Victor Osimhen scored his league-leading 18th goal of the season with a brilliant solo effort of his own. In one move, the Napoli striker demonstrated both his physicality and his football IQ. Osimhen outmuscled Ruan and Erlic to win the ball in the Sassuolo area. With Andrea Consigli expectnig a cross, Osimhen caught the keeper off guard with a Careca-like shot from a very acute angle. With his 16th goal in his last 14 matches, Osimhen became the first Napoli player ever to score in seven consecutive matches.
While Luciano Spalletti was undoubtedly pleased to earn a seventh consecutive league victory in his 1,000th career match as a coach, he might be slightly concerned with Napoli’s recent reliance on moments of brilliance. Napoli relied on three mistakes and a moment of ingenuity to win at La Spezia. Meanwhile, Kvaratskhelia and Eljif Elmas made impressive solo efforts to score in the win against Cremonese. Perhaps against stronger opposition the victories would have not come so easily.
The Other Left Winger
Kvaratskhelia was not the only left winger to impress on Friday. Armand Laurienté continues to sparkle in his debut season in Serie A. On another night, the Frenchman might have scored twice.
Laurienté nearly equalized immediately after Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring. The Frenchman made a brilliant touch to take down the long ball from Rogerio while simultaneously running past Giovanni Di Lorenzo. Like Kvara, he nutmegged the defender with his shot, but like Osimhen, he was denied by the upright.
The 24-year-old found the back of the goal five minutes before the break, but on that occasion he was denied by the VAR. The video replay showed that Grégoire Defrel bumped into Mathias Olivera before the Uruguayan left back failed to clear the danger. Because Defrel was in an offside position when Davide Frattesi made the pass, Defrel was deemed to have interfered with the play and the goal was chalked off.
