Alex Meret suffered a momentary lapse while André-Frank Zambo Anguissa scored Napoli’s only goal as the game Partenopei drew SPAL in the pouring rain on Monday.
Lineups
Gianluca Gaetano was not in the squad as the midfielder continues to recover from a fractured metatarsal. Meanwhile, Hirving Lozano did not suit up as he Mexican continues to recover from a sprained knee.
First Half
Second Half
First Half
Rudi Garcia gave his depth players an opportunity to demonstrate their worth, fielding an XI composed nearly entirely of backup players. The “B-team” showed plenty of promise, dominating possession, controlling the tempo and limiting SPAL to only two shot attempts, both of which were blocked.
However, the first-half XI lacked urgency and generated few opportunities to score. Giovanni Simeone had Napoli’s best chance midway through the half after Alessandro Zanoli burst forward on the right wing. With a free shot from the edge of the area, Simeone should have found the back of the net. Instead, he caught too much of the goal and Enrico Alfonzo pushed the shot aside.
Aside from two half-chances for Matteo Politano, Napoli did little in attack. Meanwhile, Mario Rui was forced to exit the match in the 35th minute due to a thigh injury, as confirmed by the club.
“Mario Rui, during the friendly against SPAL, was replaced due to an injury to his right thigh. The conditions of the blue defender will be re-evaluated in the coming days.”
Second Half
Garcia deployed his heavy hitters at the start of the second half, dramatically improving the Napoli attack. Ten minutes after the restart, Giovanni Di Lorenzo picked out Victor Osimhen with a long ball towards the right wing. Osimhen dribbled into the area before teeing up Khvicha Kvaratskhelia at the penalty spot, but the Georgian’s shot crashed off the bar and stayed out.
With Lozano unavailable, Giacomo Raspadori started the second half on the right wing. Consistent with Garcia’s tactics at previous clubs, Jack often drifted into the middle of the park to play as a No. 10. Raspadori had more shot attempts than any other player in the match, but the Italian was unable to beat Alfonzo.
Though Napoli played with greater attacking intensity in the second half, SPAL opened the scoring in the 63rd minute. Youngster Filippo Puletto caught Alex Meret off guard, chipping the goalkeeper with a direct free kick from midfield. Puletto scored 11 goals and tallied five assists in 27 appearances for SPAL’s Primavera team last season.
Napoli responded well, equalizing from a brilliant move ten minutes later. Kvaratskhelia picked out the run of Piotr Zielinski on the left wing. The Polish midfield, who is reportedly close to signing a contract extension with Napoli, cut the ball back into the area. Osimhen dummied the ball for Anguissa to side-foot a powerful shot into the back of the goal.
Though they continued to push forward, the home side failed to take their chances. Half an hour into the half, Napoli strung together 13 consecutive passes before Raspadori tested Alfonzo, but the keeper was up to the task. With the rain pouring down, Alfonzo spilled a big rebound in front of the goal. However, no Napoli players were in position to capitalize on the opportunity.
Napoli should have taken the lead five minutes later, after Kvaratskhelia won a free kick on the left edge of the area. Kvaratskhelia, who took all the set pieces in the second half, rolled the free kick towards Di Lorenzo in the area. The Napoli captain dummied the ball to a wide open Mathias Olivera, but the full back skied his shot over the bar.
With Napoli squandering their opportunities to score, SPAL nearly snatched a winner in the dying minutes of the match. SPAL broke the Napoli lines, with Fabio Maistro carrying the ball across midfield before squaring it to Filippo Saiani. He struck the ball powerfully towards the bottom corner, but Meret got down quickly to push the shot aside.
As the clock ticked closer to the final whistle, Stanislav Lobotka was replaced by Coli Saco. The Slovakian was removed for precautionary reasons after a feeling of discomfort.
