Napoli, hands on the championship: with Empoli equaled the record of 10 victories in a row
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A league
NoonNovember 8, 2022 – 8:30 pm
The changes made in the second half by Spalletti were decisive, the result 2-0. Lozano on a penalty and Zielinski, who with Elmas had taken over from Politano, Dombele and Raspadori
from Piero Rossano
In the sign of 10. In front of the friendly public, in the stadium named after the greatest 10 in the history of football, Diego Armando Maradona, Napoli snatches from Empoli for three quarters of a tough match 3 very heavy points that are worth the tenth victory in a row in the championship (equaled Sarri’s record of 91 points in the season) and allow Spalletti’s team to maintain the lone head of the standings with authority. Waiting for the 20.45 match between Cremonese and Milan, the Azzurri rise to +9 over the Rossoneri, second in the ranking. Decisive for the result were the changes made by Spalletti in the second half, after the hour of play. The two goals that decided the dispute were signed by Lozano, on a penalty kick, and by Zielinski, at the end of the match. To spoil the party at home in Naples, however, is the apprehension for Di Lorenzo, who came out battered from a game clash.
The match
The unavailability of Kvaratskhelia puts Raspadori on the launch pad. The former Sassuolo plays on the wide attack line on the left, with Politano on the right and Osimhen in the center. In defense, compared to the away match in Bergamo, Spalletti relies on Mario Rui on the left side and on central Ostigard alongside Min-Jae; another change compared to three days ago is Dombele from the first minute in a midfield completed by Lobotka and Anguissa. Napoli tries to exert its technical supremacy immediately, almost permanently occupying the half of the Tuscans, but failing to be dangerous on Vicario’s side: even with a passive attitude in their own half, Empoli covers itself well, with two lines very tight and with great dynamism on the blue ball carriers. Spaces, despite the great amount of play of the Azzurri, are not glimpsed: the first 25 ‘pass without appreciable attempts to bring a real danger towards the Vicar’s door. Indeed, around half an hour, it is Zanetti’s men who on the counterattack twice, the first even 4 against 2, frighten the hosts. We have to wait until 39 ‘to see Vicar committed not so severely by a turn by Raspadoricountered very effectively by the visiting defenders after he managed to free his right foot in the area. And it is again the former Sassuolo, at 45 ‘, to get the most delicious goal of the first half: on a filter by Dombele the striker of the National team again arms the right but, when Vicario is beaten, the ball comes out of nothing to his left. The first portion of the game thus goes to the archive.
The second half
Spalletti chooses to start the second half with the same eleven. Osimhen already at 46 ‘, picking up a cross from the right with his head, brings the first danger towards Vicario’s goal: high trajectory. Napoli starts again speeding up the game, making the ball spin with more intensity. At 52 ‘it is Anguissa, served by Raspadori, to send high from the left almost from the spot: the action would have deserved better luck. But a minute later it is Martinelli, from a distance, who makes the ball hiss just above Meret’s crossbar: Empoli is confirmed as alive and dangerous. Proof of this is the admonition shown by Pairetto in Ostigard at 57 ‘for stopping a dangerous counter-attack by the guests in a foul way. And here Zanetti decides to change something right in attack by inserting Lammers in place of Satriano and Akpa Akpro of Haas. At 60 ‘Dombele frees himself from the limit and lets go a right which is however unrealistic and central. Napoli is constantly on the opponent’s three quarters, Empoli often resorts to foul to stop Politano in particular. And it is on the development of the umpteenth free-kick that Osimhen, still with his head, anticipates his teammates and opponents in the 62 ‘but sends back high on the crossbar. Spalletti decides to shuffle the cards a bit and changes three men at once: Lozano for Politano, Zielinski for Dombele and Elmas for Raspadori enter. And the game also changes. The Azzurri acquire further verve in the last 20 meters and Osimhen takes the chair again: the Nigerian striker, on a lost ball in the area, lengthens his stride and anticipates the defender who touches him from behind making him fall. It’s minute 68. Pairetto whistles the penalty for Napoli, which is confirmed after a check at the Var. Lozano appears on the spot and beats to the right of the goalkeeper, Vicario senses and touches but the ball ends up in the net anyway. It’s 1-0, the minute is 69, Maradona can rejoice. Now Napoli has disbanded, Spalletti’s men widen the field to their liking. The umpteenth serpentine of Lozano on the right induces Luperto to foul, for him it is the second yellow and at 72 ‘Empoli remains in 10. Now Napoli is even more master of the field, looking for the double and at the same time freezing the ball. At the 8th Osimhen frees himself from the shot from the edge after a ball stolen by Di Lorenzo but still sends high. Empoli no longer touches the ball, it’s a blue monologue. And Lozano, in the 89th, after winning yet another duel on the right, serves a great ball in the area that Zielinski deposits with a left foot behind Vicario. It is the final 2-0. There is time, in recovery, for a nice intervention by Meret but now the credits of a game that saw a Napoli, especially in the second half, by applause flow sweetly.
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November 8, 2022 | 20:30
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