Elisa del Estal’s first Serie A goal wasn’t enough as costly errors resulted in a 2-1 defeat to Como in Napoli’s return to Serie A.
Lineup
Despite numerous changes in personnel, Biagio Seno maintained the 4-3-3 formation that was used to earn promotion to Serie A. Other than Alice Giai, who missed the match due to injury, the Napoli coach had a full squad at his disposal.
First Half
Napoli started the match well, creating their first chance in the second minute. Paloma Lazaro chipped the ball into the area for Marija Banusic to run on to. The Napoli number 10 had the entire goal to shoot at but shot straight at Como goalkeeper Maria Korenciova.
Como responded with a chance of their own, starting with a throw-in from Matilde Lundorf to Melania Martinovic. The striker held the ball up before returning it to Lundorf, who played a cross to Margherita Monnecchi at the edge of the Napoli area. The Como forward fired a low shot on target but Doris Basic made the save.
After a balanced opening half-hour, Como capitalized on a Napoli mistake to open the scoring. Right back Susanna Friedrichs over-hit her back-pass intended for Paola Di Marino. Martinovic pounced on the loose ball and served up Monnecchi, who struck the ball-first time with her left boot, past Basic and into the bottom corner.
Second Half
The visitors opened the second half on the front foot, eager to find the equalizer. Less than five minutes into the half, Banusic controlled the Napoli clearance with her chest and tapped the ball forward to Gina Chmielinski at midfield. She carried the ball straight down the middle of the park before letting fly from distance, but Korenciova stretched to palm the ball away.
With Napoli seeking an equalizer, Como coach Marco Bruzzano made three substitutions, replacing Nicole Arcangeli with Sara Baldi, Martinovic with Oona Sevenius and Lucia Pastrenge with Alma Hilaj. The changes paid off, with Sevenius exploiting yet another Napoli mistake to double Como’s lead. Sevenius’ cross was intercepted by substitute Tecla Pettenuzzo, but Di Marino cleared the ball straight back to Sevenius. The Finn shifted the ball from her right foot to her left before firing a low shot across the face of the goal and into the side-netting at the far post.
Napoli responded quickly, nearly pulling one back from a 63rd minute corner kick. Koreniciova got a slight touch on the cross, which bounced to Alice Corelli at the second post. The right-sided midfielder fired from close range and beat Koreniciova but not the upright.
The Partenopee persisted and scored their first goal of the campaign in the 70th minute. Chmielinski received the throw-in at the right edge of the Como area before crossing to substitute Elisa del Estal. The Spaniard rose up above Lundorf to head the ball into the top corner, scoring in her first ever Serie A appearance.
Both sides had opportunities to score in the final 25 minutes of the match. Both Chmielinski and Corelli narrowly missed the target with shots from just outside the area. Meanwhile, Baldi got behind the Napoli back line but was denied by Basic, who kept Napoli within striking distance with an important save.
In the end, neither team scored again as Napoli’s recorded a defeat in their first match since returning to the Italian top flight.
Post-Match
Elisa Del Estal spoke to the media after scoring her first goal in Serie A
“I think we started nervous, it was our first match in Serie A and we will certainly need to find more confidence. But we were able to react well to the 2-0 [scoreline], finding the goal quickly and we also had several opportunities to equalize.”
