On Saturday, Napoli traveled to a half-empty Stadio Arechi and secured three important points with a 2-0 victory over Salernitana.
The opening quarter of the match might have been the Partenopei’s most positive period all season. The visitors put together some brilliant passages of play, where the triangles of Sarri and Spalletti finally returned.
That period included Giacomo Raspadori’s third of the campaign, scored in the 13th minute. The goal was generated by Napoli pressing high and winning possession in the final third – another nostalgic throw-back to seasons-past. Per English World Feed commentator Simon Harding, it was the first time in his young career that Raspadori has scored in three consecutive matches. In truth, Napoli were fortunate the assistant missed a clear offside moments prior to the goal. As Salernitana won the ball back between the offside and Lobotka’s assist, the play was not eligible for a VAR review.
Then reality set in. Salernitana began to press and the patterns of play quickly vanished. The home side often cornered Napoli into hoofing the ball right back to them. Though it was the Granata’s best spell of the match, during which they registered two of their three shots on target, they never really threatened. An xG of 0.3 was accurate.
Salernitana’s low expected goals was also a credit to Napoli’s defense. Mathias Olivera – the player who should have been called offside – justified his selection over Mario Rui with a very strong showing. The Uruguayan appears to be the right choice when Raspadori plays at striker, while Mario Rui, who is the undoubtedly the better crosser of the ball, might be better suited to playing with Victor Osimhen or Giovanni Simeone.
Leo Østigård also put in a solid shift, finally getting an opportunity to play on the left side of the centre-back pairing, where he often plays for Norway, deputizing for the suspended Natan. Even Amir Rrahmani reacted well after a very difficult first half against Milan. The Kosovo captain led all players with six aerial duels won. Despite out-shooting Salernitana 21-10, Napoli managed to block more shots (6-5). The defense was bolstered by the full return of André-Frank Zambo Anguissa. When he’s up for it, the Cameroonian is one of the best midfielders in Serie A. Unfortunately, he’s not always up for it.
Yet, the result hung in the balance until Eljif Elmas doubled Napoli’s lead. Prior to the 82nd-minute goal, it seemed like Napoli were a poor pass, a wonder strike or, as Garcia alluded to in his post-match press-conference, an unlucky bounce away from dropping important points. Instead, Elmas sealed the victory with his first of the season, justifying Garcia’s decision to replace last season’s MVP with a narrow one-goal lead.
In the end, it was an expected victory against Serie A’s worst club. Once again, Matteo Politano was one of the Azzurri’s best players. The winger had three excellent opportunities to register his 10th goal contribution of the season: the first was stopped by Guillermo Ochoa, who made eight saves in the contest; the second, which was also a curler from distance, struck the outside of the upright; and the third was blocked by Lorenzo Pirola, who led all players with four blocks. Though Napoli only registered an xG of 1.3, they could (and should) have scored more.
With Lazio, Atalanta and Milan all suffering defeat, the Partenopei moved back into the top four, only one point behind the Rossoneri. Juventus are only two points clear, and they have a difficult match against Fiorentina on Sunday. Meanwhile, Lautaro Martinez led Inter to yet another victory with a stunning strike in the pouring rain at the Gewiss. The Argentinian has already netted 12 goals this season. If Juventus drop points to Fiorentina, assuming the weather permits the match to be played, the Nerazzurri could run away with the league like Napoli did last season.
