Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored twice while Victor Osimhen and Kim Min-Jae added to the tally as Luciano Spalletti’s men cruised to a second consecutive victory. With the 4-0 victory over Serie A debutants AC Monza, SSC Napoli stayed at the top of the Serie A table with a goal differential of +7.
After a dominant opening 35 minutes, Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring with a perfectly placed tiraggiro – the signature shot of the man he replaced on the left wing.
Osimhen doubled Napoli’s lead shortly before the break. André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who was nearly unstoppable in the Napoli midfield, played Osimhen into the area. The Nigerian took two touches before blasting a low shot between the legs of Michele Di Gregorio; Osimhen’s second of the campaign. For the second consecutive match, Monza conceded a goal in the dying minutes of the first half.
Kvaratskhelia, who’s already been nicknamed ‘Kvaradona’ by Georgian football fans, added a second just past the hour mark. The winger beat Michele Di Gregorio with his supposed weaker left foot, after a lovely drop of the should to get past substitute Valentin Antov. With the goal, Kvaratskhelia took the lead in the race for capocannoniere, albeit very early in the season. Stanislav Lobotka assisted on the goal after intercepting Mattia Valoti’s pass into the middle of the park.
Andrea Petagna, who recently transferred from Napoli to Monza, thought he pulled one back in the 68th minute. However, a VAR review clearly showed that Petagna pushed Amir Rrahmani in the back before heading the ball past Alex Meret, and the goal was overturned.
Kim Min-Jae put the cherry on top of the proverbial cake in the third minute of stoppage time. On the same day that his predecessor Kalidou Koulibaly was dismissed during Chelsea’s 3-0 loss to Leeds United, Kim headed past Di Gregorio to open his account for Napoli.
Napoli have now scored nine goals and conceded only two through their first two matches, albeit against comparatively weak opponents. Napoli will face stiffer competition when they visit the Stadio Artemio Franchi on August 28 to take on Fiorentina.
