Sabah Seghir scored her first goal of the season before Elisa del Estal scored her 13th as Napoli Femminile moved to the top of the table with their second victory this season over Lazio.
Lineup
Biagio Seno made five changes to the squad who defeated San Marino. The Napoli changed changed three of his back four, with Federica Veritti and Paola Di Marino returning to centre back and Martina Di Bari starting at right back. Sara Tui returned to a shuffled midfield, relegating Valentina Puglisi to the bench. Finally, Sabah Seghir started over Sara Tamborini in the No. 10.
First Half
Though Lazio were the more positive side in the early stages of the match, Napoli opened the scoring against the run of play. The move started with Adriana Gomes winning a throw-in on the right wing. Martina Di Bari took the throw to Gomes at the right edge of the area. She held the ball up with her back to the goal before laying it off to Sabah Seghir just outside the area. The Moroccan hit the ball first-time with her preferred left boot. Lazio goalkeeper Emma Guidi watched helplessly as the ball dipped into the top corner at the far post.
Remarkably, with Lazio once again in control of the match, Napoli doubled their lead. In the 28th minute, Seghir won a free kick just inside the Lazio half. Claudia Mauri’s long free kick sailed into the area and hit the bar. Elisa del Estal was waiting on the doorstep to head the rebound past Guidi as she retreated into her own goal.
Lazio were very fortunate not to have a player sent off with Napoli attacking on the break in the 37th minute. Francesca Pittaccio committed a brutal tackle on Gomes at midfield, completely off the ball, to disrupt the Napoli attack. Unbelievably, Pittaccio was only shown a yellow card and not a straight red.
Napoli nearly tripled their lead five minutes before the break, after del Estal won a free kick at the right edge of the area. Seghir played an in-swinging free kick towards the second post, where Di Marino ran onto the ball. The Napoli captain headed the ball into the ground but Guigi made an excellent reaction save, pushing the ball aside to her right.
Second Half
Lazio started the second half on the front foot, creating their first chance only five minutes after the restart. Ex-Napoli player Martina Toniolo tested her luck from a tight angle but her shot hit the outside of the goal.
Lazio came close again three minutes later after Toniolo won a free kick on the left wing. Toniolo took the free kick herself, crossing the ball to into the box. The ball bounced through the area but Arianna Pezzotti chased it down and teed up Pittaccio. Her cross found Erikson, who directed her header towards the far post but it bounced off the upright and stayed out. Laura Condon tried to score on the rebound but Paolo Di Marino was there to make a critical block.
Toniolo caused all sorts of problems for the Napoli defense in the second half. Just past the hour mark she won another free kick on the left side of the midfield. Toniolo took the free kick herself, swinging the ball toward the first post. With he flicked header to the bottom corner, Sille Fuhlendorff reduce the gap to one.
With Napoli rattled, the Biancocelesti pushed hard for the equalizer. Midway through the second half, Noemi Visentin carried the ball into the area from the right wing, dribbled past Claudia Mauri, who was careful to avoid conceding a penalty kick, and went for goal. However, her left-footed effort did have enough curl to find the top corner at the far post.
In the 78th minute, Toniolo sidestepped Mauri in the centre of the midfield before an audacious effort from 35 yards out narrowly missed the top corner. Likewise, four minutes later, Fuhlendorff tested her luck from the right corner of the area but her effort was always curling wide of the far post.
Lazio had two final chances in stoppage time. In the 91st minute, substitute Serena Landa was cautioned for a very heavy tackle on Pittaccio, perhaps seeking revenge on behalf of Gomes. Toniolo crossed the ball into the area and Varriale got a flick on the header but it bounced wide of the far post.
Three minutes later, Marta Varriale crossed the ball into the area from the left wing. Antonella Castiello flicked a header towards the second post, where Visentin was attacking the ball. However, at the last second, Aurora De Sanctis cleared the ball off Visentin before it rolled across the face of the goal and out for a goal kick.
Despite playing nearly eight minutes of stoppage time, the Partenopee hung on for the 1-2 victory, completing the double over Lazio. With the win, Napoli moved into the automatic promotion position at the top of the Serie B table. Meanwhile, Cittadella pulled level with Lazio after a 0-1 victory over Arezzo.
Post Match
Giulia Giacobbo addressed the media after the victory.
“It was an important and difficult match and we faced it by putting all our energy into the field. You can see that for a couple of months now something has clicked in this group on a mental level and thus the results we deserve are arriving. Now we are at the top of the standings but we know that there are three extremely delicate matches that we will have to approach in the right way.”
