Napoli extended their lead at the top of the table to ten points with a statement victory over rivals Juventus in a sold out Stadio Maradona on Saturday. Here are three takeaways selected by Forza Napoli Press.
High Press
Napoli opened the match with a level of intensity that was noticeably absent in the club’s only loss league loss this season. With Napoli pressing high, Juventus struggled to keep hold of the ball, often resorting to the long ball and in some cases playing it straight out to touch.
The Partenopei appeared to burn out midway through the first half, allowing Juventus to have their best spell of the match, including a goal from Angel Di Maria. Napoli recovered during the break and and restored the two-goal lead ten minutes after the restart.
Amir Rrahmani became the Azzurri’s 17th different goal scorer this season, blasting a half volley into the bottom corner. With Juventus pushing forward, Napoli became less reliant on the press. Instead, they played keep-away, exploiting the spaces that Juventus’ attack opened up.
Strike Duo
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen were involved in four of Napoli’s five goals on the night. Though he was not awarded an assist on Osimhen’s first, it was Kvaratskhelia’s acrobatic effort that led to the goal. Six minutes before the break, Osimhen pounced on a loose ball in the area before teeing up Kvara for his seventh goal of the Serie A campaign. The Georgian returned the favour in the second half, playing a cross into the area with pin-point accuracy to pick out Osimhen. The Nigerian headed in his league-leading 13th goal of the season. That was Kvaratskhelia’s second assist of the match, after his corner kick found Rrahmani in the area for Napoli’s third.
The pair now have a combined 22 goals and 16 assists in all competitions (19G, 13A in Serie A and 3G, 3A in Champions League). After conceding a total of seven goals all season, Juventus conceded five in Fuorigrotta. It was Napoli’s widest margin of victory over Juventus in Serie A, matching the scorelines of the 1990/91 Supercoppa Italiana and the 1977/78 Coppa Italia.
Angel Di Maria
Angel Di Maria was the lone positive on a forgettable evening for Juventus. The World Cup winner came within inches of equalizing in the first half after Rrahmani played an errant pass straight to the Argentinian.
Di Maria popped the ball to his left to skip past Rrahmani before firing a curling shot into the frame of the goal.
Moments later he picked out Arkadiusz Milik with a cross into the area, but the former Napoli hitman directed his header straight into the waiting gloves of Alex Meret. The Napoli goalkeeper foiled Di Maria and co. again shortly after the half-hour mark. The shot stopper got the slightest of touches on Di Maria’s corner kick, but it was enough to throw off Bremer, who was attacking the ball at the second post.
Di Maria deservedly got his name on the score sheet only minutes before the break. The Juventus winger fought to win the ball back after Stanislav Lobotka disrupted a give-and-go with Manuel Locatelli. The ball took a fortuitous ricochet between the legs of Kim Min-jae and fell to Milik, who teed up Di Maria for the shot into the bottom corner.
[…] four days after a historic 5-1 victory over bitter rivals Juventus, Napoli were eliminated from the Coppa Italia by Cremonese, the only winless club in Serie A. […]