Elisa Del Estal scored her second consecutive brace en route to a 2-1 victory over Trento.
Lineup
Dimitri Lipoff made two changes to squad he fielded in the 6-0 thrashing of Tavagnacco. Mechela Franco started on the right side of the back three, allowing Melissa Nozzi a rare opportunity to rest. Meanwhile, Antonia Dulcic started on the left side of the midfield four, relegating Giulia Giacobbo to the bench.
Match
Napoli started well, creating two chances in the opening five minutes, both from corner kicks. In the 2nd minute, Trento goalkeeper Chiara Valzolgher tipped away Claudia Mauri’s out-swinging cross. Serena Landa was first to the rebound at the second post but couldn’t beat Valzolgher.
Moments later, Mauri picked out Giulia Ferrandi at the edge of the area. Her pass for Gomes was heavy, but the Portugal native redirected the pass to Romina Pinna inside the area. Pinna went for goal with her left but the effort bounced narrowly wide of the goal.
Trento responded with a chance of their own. Paola Di Marino misread the flight of the cross from the right wing, which allowed forward Giulia Rosa to control the ball with her chest in the area. The striker hit a soft volley toward the goal but the ball hit the bar and stayed out.
Not to be outdone, Ferrandi hit the bar only six minutes later after Elisa Del Estal teed her up for the shot from the edge of the area. Ferrandi came close again in the 32nd minute, but Valzolgher pushed the shot cross off the bar. Landa was first to the rebound again but her shot from close range was cleared off the line.
Napoli persisted and, only three minutes later, opened the scoring with a well-worked team goal. Ferrandi played a vertical pass to Del Estal, who dropped to touch the ball on to Pinna. She spotted Landa on the left side, and winger picked out Del Estal for the tap-in in front of the goal.
That was the final chance for either side in the first half, which ended 1-0 in favour of the home side. The Partenopee picked up where they left off in the second half, doubling their lead in the 58th minute.
Gomes carried the ball into the area from the right wing before playing a low cross to the first post. Del Estal was first to the ball and made a clever backheel flick to beat Valzolgher. With her second consecutive brace, Del Estal brought her season total to five goals.
Napoli nearly scored a similar goal in the 64th minute. Once again, Gomes dribbled past a Trento defender on the right wing and into the area. Except, this time, she held up, before teeing up substitute Sara Tamborini at the edge of the area. The forward hit the ball first time but for the third time in the match, Napoli hit the bar.
Trento didn’t put up much of a fight, but managed to pull one back late in the match. With three minutes of normal time remaining, Rosa picked out Alessia Erlicher with a cross into the area. The Trento No. 9 netter with a long header that bounced into the bottom corner.
It was too little, too late, however, as Napoli held on for the comfortable 2-1 victory. Meanwhile, Lazio continued their winning ways with a dramatic 3-4 victory over Bresia, maintaining their 2-point gap over Napoli. Ternana, Chievo and Cittadella all remained one point behind Napoli with their respective wins over Ravenna, Apulia Trani and Cesena.
Post-Match
Elisa Del Estal addressed the media after the win.
“I’m happy to have repeated the two goals scored against Tavagnacco. Today it was important to win and it wasn’t easy also due to the weather conditions. We were good at bringing it home even though we should have closed it sooner because playing against the wind, surprises were around the corner. Personally, I’m very happy because I’ve settled in and I’m getting on well with my new teammates as well as making my contribution towards reaching the goal we set for ourselves.”
