On Wednesday, Napoli played the second of two friendlies at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The Partenopei took on LOSC Lille – currently ranked 7th in Ligue 1.
First Half
Lineup (4-3-3): Meret; Mario Rui, Juan Jesus, Østigård, Di Lorenzo; Elmas, Lobotka, Ndombele; Kvaratskhelia, Osimhen, Politano
With Matteo Politano back in the squad, Luciano Spalletti returned to the starting XI he fielded against Crystal Palace, with Giacomo Raspadori starting on the bench.
Lille, led by ex-Roma coach Paulo Fonseca, found joy with the long ball early in the first half. In the fifth minute, Alan Virginius got behind the Napoli back line to receive the long ball from Rémy Cabella. However, Østigård recovered before making a well-timed slide tackle in the Napoli area. Eight minutes later, Angel Gomes picked out Virginius’ run in behind. This time Alex Meret challenged and forced the winger out wide. Virginius kept the ball in play, dribbled back into the area and teed up Angel Gomes, who had joined the attack, but his shot was always rising over the bar.
Lille came close again minutes later, after a rare turnover from Stanislav Lobotka deep in Napoli territory. Virginius played a give and go with Cabella before having a go for goal. The shot would have found the bottom corner had Juan Jesus not put his body in the way. Instead, Lille opened the scoring with a set piece from the ensuing corner kick. Central defender Tiago Djaló got in front of his man at the first post to flick on the cross. Bafodé Diakité, who was first to the second ball, calmly took it down and rolled it into the bottom corner to give the visitors an early lead.
Napoli responded well, creating three half chances in the span of five minutes: an ambitious bicycle kick from Victor Osimhen; a left-footed shot from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia that bounced comfortably into the gloves of Lucas Chevalier; and a powerful strike from distance from Tanguy Ndombele that finished inches over the bar.
Napoli’s first quality chance came two minutes past the half-hour mark, when Ndombele played a looping ball over the top to Osimhen. The Nigerian was 1 v 2 with Djalo and substitute Alexsandro, but somehow came out with the ball. He dribbled into the area before aiming for the near post, but his shot hit the outside of the goal.
Lille responded with a chance of their own. The French side dribbled confidently out of the back – something they did well all match – before Edon Zhegrova broke free in the middle of the park. He squared the ball to Cabella at the edge of the Napoli area. Cabella hit the ball first-time, but the curling effort bounced narrowly wide of the far post.
Napoli closed the half well, with Ndombele and Giovanni Di Lorenzo providing the creative impetus in attack, however the final ball often lacked quality. Ndombele was also involved in Napoli’s best chance of the half, three minutes before the break. The Frenchman played a give on go with Matteo Politano – who he showed great chemistry with throughout the match – before picking out Elmas with a cross from the right wing. Elmas was very composed in the area, controlling the ball before teeing up Kvaratskhelia to his left. Kvara seemingly had only the keeper to beat, but after setting up the goal at one end, Diakité made a remarkable sliding block to prevent a goal at the other end.
2nd Half
Lineup (4-3-3): Meret; Mario Rui, Juan Jesus, Østigård, Di Lorenzo; Elmas, Lobotka, Ndombele; Kvaratskhelia, Osimhen, Politano
With Napoli trailing, Spalletti left all his starters on at the beginning of the second half. The Partenopei were constantly threatening but Lille’s back line defended well, often getting a foot in at crucial moments.
Fonseca made three changes at the hour mark, including bringing on a former Napoli player, Adam Ounas, and a player who has been rumoured as a potential replacement for Victor Osimhen, Jonathan David. Two minutes later David doubled Lille’s lead. After Mario Rui cleared a Lille cross from the left wing, Timothy Weah rose up to win a header over Eljif Elmas and played the ball straight back into the area. Østigård misread the flight of the ball, allowing David to control the ball on his chest. The Canadian’s left-footed strike flashed across the face of the goal and into the side netting at the far post.
Spalletti made his first substitutions of the match shortly after the goal, replacing Lobotka, Politano and Osimhen with Gianluca Gaetano, Alessio Zerbin and Giovanni Simeone, respectively. Two minutes later he replaced Elmas with Giacomo Raspadori – a change that facilitated a change to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
While Napoli continued to squander chances, Lille continued to take theirs, adding a third in the 76th minute. Simeone was dispossessed in the Lille box and the French side immediately broke the other way. Lille B player Carlos Baleba slipped the ball between Ndombele and Di Lorenzo, allowing another Napoli target, Jonathan Bamba, to burst through the midfield. Despite a numerical disadvantage, Bamba had options on either side. He elected to pass to David on his right, who played an extra pass to Ounas in the area. The Algeria shot quickly with his left, and though the shot was straight at Meret, the ball snuck through the keeper’s legs and into the back of the goal.
Ounas was back at it in the 82nd minute, dribbling past Mario Rui in the buildup to Lille’s fourth goal. The skillful winger played a through ball to Mohamed Bayo on the right side of the area. He received the past before reaching the by line and cut the ball back across the face of the goal. With Di Lorenzo stepping up to mark David and Zerbin late to mark the run of Bamba, the forward was free to tap the ball into the empty goal.
Lille should have added a fifth in the 88th minute, after Meret played a long pass straight to Ounas. The former Napoli man teed up David, who had only Meret to beat, but skied his shot well over the bar. Had the Canadian scored, Lille could have matched Napoli’s lop-sided friendly defeat to Benevento in 2021, which finished 1-5 in favour of the visitors.
One of the few positives for Napoli was the play of Raspadori off the bench. The diminutive forward was once again involved in numerous Napoli chances and he was ultimately rewarded for his efforts. In the third minute of stoppage time, Gaetano switched the play to Mario Rui on the left wing, who squared the ball to Raspadori at the edge of the area. The forward took a quick touch before popping the ball into the bottom corner, scoring his fifth goal in four friendlies during the winter break.
