Napoli-Sampdoria 2-0, Osimhen and Simeone sign the victory on the day of the Scudetto celebration

NAPLES – Victor Osimhen and Giovanni Simeone put the seal on Napoli’s last party in the second half, giving the new Italian champions the victory (2-0) at Maradona against Sampdoria and allowing Luciano Spalletti’s team to conclude the championship at 90 points, with a sixteen point advantage over the second in the standings. Big party in Fuorigrotta for the grand finale of an unforgettable season, which gave the Azzurri the third Scudetto in their history. The show was extraordinary especially off the field and continued until late in the evening, including fireworks, choreography, music and award ceremonies. Protagonist Aurelio De Laurentiis, who personally took care of the organization and filled the stadium with twelve maxi screens, to allow the public a perfect view.

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On the very long Maradona Sunday there was also a match, which in terms of content and side dish closely resembled the classic end-of-year essay. In fact, the Napoli players took to the field without feeling any kind of pressure and with the desire to enjoy the last day of school in a carefree way, knowing that they had already been promoted with flying colors and surrounded by the affection of an entire city , not only that of the lucky 50,000 present at the Fuorigrotta stadium. Even Sampdoria was involved in the atmosphere of the celebrations, with the ovation reserved by the fans for Fabio Quagliarella from Stabia (last in Serie A) and the young Alessandro Zanoli, ready to return to base after six months on loan in Liguria . But the most thunderous applause before the kick-off went to Luciano Spalletti, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Kim Min-Jae and Victor Osimhen, awarded by Lega Calcio as best coach of the championship, best player of the tournament, best defender and best forward respectively. “I thank you for your precious support and I share this prestigious award with everyone,” the Tuscan coach said into the microphone with a broad smile, immediately after sitting down for the last time on the Azzurri’s bench. The choreography of the two corners at the entrance to the teams was spectacular, with the new Italian champions giving space to most of the owners available for a well-deserved catwalk. Stankovic on the other hand has instead given space to many baby boys, from whom the reconstruction of the blucerchiata line-up will have to start again after the relegation to Serie B.

Sampdoria are moving on and have calmly accepted the role of sparring partner at Maradona, even if the best chance of the first half happened to Quagliarella, who didn’t feel like spoiling the party and sent an easy shot wide head from two steps. But the aim also betrayed the Napoli players, who presented themselves for shooting several times – and without luck – with Zielinski, Kvaratskhelia, Anguissa and above all Osimhen, who however took the field with the certainty of having already won the title of top scorer. The Nigerian striker (31 goals this season, including the Cups) will be one of the prized players in the summer market and De Laurentiis will only let him go in exchange for a maxi offer of 150 million. On the other hand, his Georgian teammate will certainly remain in the blue shirt, who was one of the most enterprising and active right up to the end, generously putting himself at the service of the team in the last 90′ of the championship. However, the new Italian champions pulled the plug some time ago and there weren’t many emotions even in the second half: net of a save by Meret on the newcomer Malagrida (12′). So a spark was needed to get the Fuorigrotta party off the ground for good: foul by Murru on Osimhen in the area and conversion from the spot (19′) by number 9, who unlocked the scoreline with a precise low shot.

Spalletti immediately seized the moment and began to widen the limelight to other protagonists, getting Raspadori and the young midfielder Gaetano off the bench, who came close to doubling twice in a few seconds. Napoli has finally started their engines and Rrahmani and Raspadori also came close to scoring, carried away by the enthusiasm of Maradona’s 50,000 players. The only discordant notes in the final were the injuries of Anguissa and Gaetano, with the Azzurri forced to finish the game with ten men. But Simeone still managed to put his seal on the party with a feat (40′) and exulted by kissing a shirt with the number 10. Then the standing ovation for Quagliarella leaving the field, visibly moved. The curtain could not fall with a more beautiful scene.

NAPLES 2 19′ st Osimhen (pen), 40′ st Simeone
SAMPDORIA 0
Naples (4-3-3): Meret 7 – Di Lorenzo 6.5, Rrahmani 7, Ostigard 6, Mario Rui 6.5 (32′ st Bereszynski sv) – Anguissa 6 (35′ st Demme sv), Lobotka 6, Zielinski 6.5 (23′ st Gaetano 6.5) – Elmas 6 ( 23′ st Raspadori 6), Osimhen 7 (32′ st Simeone 7), Kvaratskhelia 6.5. Herds Spalletti 7.
Sampdoria (3-4-1-2): Turk 6.5 – Gunter 5.5 (1′ st Malagrida 6), Amione 6, Murru 5 – Zanoli 6.5, Paoletti 6 (43′ st Yepes sv), Rincon 6 (43′ st Segovia sv), Augello 6 – Leris 6 – Gabbiadini 5.5 (43′ st Ntanda sv), Quagliarella 6 (43′ st Ivanovic sv). Herd Stankovic 6.
Referee: Feliciani 6
Note: spectators 50 thousand