Napoli were still launched in Serie A and now they ensured they end the year as leaders after achieving their tenth straight victory over Empoli in the championship. This time Luciano Spalletti’s side needed more than expected to beat a 14th-placed rival, but the introduction of Hirving Lozano, who scored a penalty and provided an assist for 2-0, was key and allowed him to extend his incredible trajectory (he only conceded two draws in 14 days).
Napoli are temporarily increasing their lead over Milan to 9 points, who visit Cremonese tonight, with just one game remaining (against Udinese at home) before the break caused by the World Cup in Qatar. After the weekend day, Serie A will not resume until January 4.
Good game, some clarity in the area
With Khvicha Kvaratskhelia out for the second game in a row with a back injury, Napoli played with their usual intensity and pressure but lacked clarity in the box as on other occasions against a good Empoli defense that played well in the second half.
Napoli monopolized the possession and played almost the whole match in the rival field. He moved the ball well in the build-up phase, but in the first half he had few clear chances. Giacomo Raspadori scored moments before the break but his shots narrowly missed the target.
After the break, Napoli intensified their dominance. Zambo Anguisa and Victor Osimhen, with powerful headers, finished just high, while Empoli only created another danger with another shot from Filippo Bandinelli going over the crossbar.
VAR penalty
Spalletti used Hirving Lozano in the 64th minute for Matteo Politano and Napoli finally needed a penalty, confirmed by VAR, to open the can. Razvan Marin intercepts a cross short, Osimhen gets ahead of him and the Romanian brings him down from behind.
Hirving Lozano converted the penalty despite goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario’s prediction of the ball’s trajectory (69′). Soon, Empoli were left with ten when defender Sebastiano Luperto saw a second yellow card for a foul on Lozano (74′).
However, it remained 1-0 until the 88th minute, when Napoli were punished by another good move from the right by Lozano. The Mexican overflowed and put in a beautiful cross that, coming from behind, Piotr Zielinski connected to the net.
NAPLES
two0
EMPOLI
Naples: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Kim Min-Jae, Ostigård, Mario Rui; Zambo Anguissa, Lobotka (Demme, 90′), Ndombélé (Zielinski, 64′); Politano (Hirving Lozano, 64′), Osimhen (Gio Simeone, 90′) and Raspadori (Elmas, 64′)
Empoli: Vicar; Stojanovic, Ismajli, Luperto, Parisi; Haas (Akpa-Akpro, 59′), Marin (Ekong, 85′), Bandinelli (Grassi, 73′); Baldanzi (Liam Henderson, 73′), Satriano (Lammers, 59′) and Bajrami
Goals: 1-0 Hirving Lozano (pen.) (69′), 2-0 Zielinski (88′)
Referee: Luca Pairetto. Red for Luperto (39′ and 74′) Yellow for Bandinelli (15′), Satriano (22′), Ostigård (57′), Parisi (61′), Liam Henderson (89′)
Spectators: 40,000 in San Paolo
view the game file
Source: La Verdad
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