Wearing the alternate red kits for the first time, Adriana Gomes and Elisa del Estal continued their torrid goal-scoring form. The pair combined for three of Napoli’s four goals – the Partenopee’s second 4-0 victory with Tracy Roberts-Pounds, Consul General of the United States in Naples, in attendance.
Lineup
Biagio Seno made three changes to the squad he fielded against Sassari Torres. Federica Veritti started at centre back over Paola Di Marino, who relinquished the captain’s armband to Claudia Mauri. Mauri shifted to the centre of the midfield, relegating Giulia Ferrandi to the bench. Meanwhile, Giulia Giacobbo started on the right side of he midfield three. Finally, Sabah Seghir started at trequartista over Romina Pinna.
First Half
The match could not have started any better for Napoli, who immediately launched an attack. Adriana Gomes played the ball through to Elisa del Estal on the right side of the area. The Spaniard turned and crossed the ball straight into the outstretch arm of the Cesena defender, so less than a minute into the match, Napoli were awarded a penalty kick. Gomes stepped up to the spot and froze goalkeeper Eveljn Frigotto, picking the bottom corner to score her 19th goal of the season.
The home side nearly doubled their lead only five minutes later, after Gomes won a free kick in a dangerous area. Left-footed forward Sabah Seghir got her direct free kick up and over the wall, but the shot crashed off the upright and stayed out.
The match quickly opened up after Napoli’s early goal, and the home side were fortunate to not concede the equalizer midway through the half. Gaia Distefano played a low cross into the area from the left wing. Federica Veritti attempted to clear the danger from inside the six-yard box, but inadvertently redirected the ball towards her own goal. By chance, Napoli goalkeeper Matilde Copetti was in the right position to clear the ball off the line.
Five minutes later the Partenopee doubled their lead, after Seghir intercepted a Cesena pass in the middle of the park. Seghir chipped the ball forward for Gomes to run onto. Frigotto came off her line but Gomes got there first, passing to del Estal from the edge of the area. Del Estal calmly rolled the ball into the empty goal, scoring her 11th goal in 13 matches (since joining the club in December).
Napoli looked very dangerous on the counterattack and nearly added a third five minutes before the break. Claudia Mauri played a vertical pass to del Estal in the middle of the park. She turned and played a diagonal ball to her Spanish compatriot Sara Tui on the left side of the area. Tui probably should have gone for goal, but unselfishly played an extra pass to Gomes at the spot. Gomes attempted a first-time shot with the outside of her right boot but it curled wide of the far post.
Second Half
The second half started the same way the first half ended, with Napoli hungry for goals. Only five minutes after the restart, Aurora De Sanctis intercepted the Cesena pass down the line on the right wing. De Sanctis immediately launched the ball forwardto Gomes, who was waiting at the halfway line. With Cesena playing a high line, the Portugal native had the entire half to run on to, carrying the ball all the way into the Cesena area. Del Estal joined the attack to provide another option, but with Frigotto slow off her line, Gomes had a big target to shoot at. The Napoli forward calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner, scoring her second of the match and her 20th of the season. Remarkably, with Ternana forward Anastasia Spyridonidou scoring a brace against Arezzo, Gomes remained second in the race for Capocannoniere.
To their credit, Cesena continued to play and nearly pulled one back in the 57th minute. Mancuso crossed the ball into the area from the left wing. Veritti won the header but played the ball straight to substitute Martina Sechi in front of the goal. Sechi had only the keeper to beat but Copetti made a fantastic save on the shot that was destined for the bottom corner.
Napoli immediately made Cesena pay for the miss, scoring a fourth less than five minutes later. Substitute Giulia Ferrandi played an in-swinging cross from the corner flag. Melissa Nozzi was first to the ball to head in from close range – the defender’s second goal of the season.
Despite the four goal lead, the home side continued to push forward. Gomes nearly completed her hat trick immediately from the restart. Napoli pressed high and Sara Tui interceped the pass from Elena Casadei, intended for Karen Makova. Del Estal played a quick touch to Ferrandi who, in turn, played a long through ball to Gomes. The forward fought off the tackle from Giulia Mancuso before firing a low shot on target, but Frigotto made a good save.
Frigotta came up big again moments later, after del Estal ran onto the long through ball into the area. Frigotto challenged and made a double save on del Estal, first on the low shot and then on the rebound. The second rebound fell to Gomes who controlled the ball and dribbled around a Cesena defender before blasting a shot over the bar.
With a four-goal lead, Seno emptied his bench, replacing del Estal, Gomes, Dulcic and Mauri with Sara Tamborini, Romina Pinna, Melissa Toomey and Michela Franco, respectively. For Toomey, it was her first appearance of the season after a long injury absence.
Pinna came close to scoring on three separate occasions. In the 76th minute, Tamborini swung the ball out wide to the Italian forward. Pinna dribbled around defender Nicole Costa before firing a shot into the outside of the goal. Pinna had her best chance a minute later after another brilliant team move from Napoli. Sara Tui played the ball down the line to Toomey, who laid the ball off to Ferrandi. The midfielder squared to Franco in the middle of the park and she played a perfectly-weighted through ball to Pinna, who timed her run to perfection. The attacker dribbled around Frigotto, who came off her line to challenge, but somehow she missed the empty goal with her shot.
Pinna finally found the back of the goal in the 82nd minute but the forward was ruled offside. Had the Partenopee not had a four-goal lead, they might have felt hard-done by. Pinna appeared to be in an onside position when Copetti played the long ball forward. Pinna might have been in an offside position when the ball was flicked backward by a Cesena player who, according to the letter of the law, cannot play an opponent offside.
Nevertheless, Napoli coasted to a 4-0 victory, but only after Copetti made a fantastic save on Costa’s header, which was destined for the top corner. With Lazio and Cittadella each winning their 7th consecutive match, Napoli remained third in the table.
Post-Match
Having reached 20 goals on the season, Adriana Gomes addressed the media after the match.
“I’m happy on a personal level but only because these goals have contributed, for example, to a success like this one against Cesena, who had beaten us in the first leg. We move forward aware of the goal we have set for ourselves and of our strength, now we have to project ourselves into the match in Brescia knowing that we can always play well and with high intensity as we have done in the last few appearances.”
