Sarri stops ‘his’ Napoli in race for ‘scudetto’

There is no such thing as an invincible team and Napoli proved it today when they were beaten at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium by their former coach Maurizio Sarri, who at the helm of Lazio knows how to stop their unstoppable march towards the ‘scudetto’ . Despite receiving their second defeat in Serie A, first at home, and third all season, Luciano Spalletti’s team still has a big lead, now 17 points, over Lazio themselves, who are temporarily in second place.

Napoli could not activate the overwhelming mode from the first whistle as usual, as Lazio knew how to disconnect the devastating tandem formed by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen until midway through the first half.

neighbor warning

Maurizo Sarri knows how to play against his former team and in fact Lazio had the best chance, and almost the only one, in this first period. It was very clear and it came in minute 5 when Giovanni Di Lorenzo took a header from Matías Vecino from the low sticks after a free kick by Luis Alberto.

Gradually, Napoli took control of the game and trapped Lazio in their area, but they could not find a way to overcome an insurmountable wall and their only resource was long shots from Piotr Zielinski and André Zambo Anguissa.

Napoli insisted and Lazio contained

After the break the leaders came closer with more danger and Zielinski came close to scoring after receiving a quality shot from Osimhen, but his shot just missed the post (58′).

Sarri introduced Pedro Rodríguez to a Lazio team that contained the local offense without too much trouble and also advanced on the scoreboard with his second shot since the start of the game.

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The great goal of the neighbor

Kvaratskhelia, less inspired in attack today, cleared with a header in defense but left the ball loose near the area and Vecino, with a good shot on the instep from a bounce soon after , placed a perfect shot near the post (66′). A goal.

Napoli, less intense than usual this season, insisted and with a corner they had a double chance that did not end in a miracle goal. Osimhen headed Kvaratskhelia over the crossbar and, on the rebound, centre-back Kim found goalkeeper Ivan Provedel to get his header out from under the sticks (78′).

Third loss of the season

Lazio never suffered again, making it 0-2 with a free kick from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic that hit the outside of the crosshead (88′). Napoli have not lost at home in Serie A since April 2022 (2-3 against Fiorentina). This season, only Liverpool (2-0 in November at Anfield in the Champions League) and Inter (1-0 in January at San Siro) managed to beat him.

Naples

01

lazio

Naples: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Kim, Olivera (Zedadka, 93′); Zambo Anguissa (Elmas, 71′), Lobotka (Ndombélé, 82′), Zielinski (Gio Simeone, 82′); Hirving Lozano (Politano, 71′), Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia
The
Lazio: Provedel; Marusic, Patric, Alessio Romagnoli, Hysaj; Neighbors, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Luis Alberto (Cataldi, 88′); Felipe Anderson (Pedro, 59′), Immobile, Zaccagni (Cancellieri, 82′)
The
Goal: 0-1 Vecino (67′)

Referee: Luca Pairetto. Yellow cards for Patric (21′), Osimhen (63′), Elmas (89′), Marusic (94′)

Spectators: 50,000 at Diego Armando Maradona

see the match sheet