Friday’s meeting at the top of Serie A sparked great emotions among fans interested in Italian football. A possible victory for Napoli allowed the players of Luciano Spalletti to jump back to the “old lady” with a ten-point lead in the table, which would bring them closer to final success. Juventus entered this match after a series of good results: they kept a clean sheet for more than 700 minutes, in addition, in 17 matches they conceded only seven. Shave.
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For both teams, the interruption from the competition due to the World Cup in Qatar had a slight impact on their form. Juventus, despite managing to win two January matches against Cremonense and UdineseIt didn’t work well. On the other hand, Napoli suffered their first defeat of the season against Inter, and a few days later beat Sampdoria.
From the start of the match it was clear that it was going to be a very intense and physically demanding match. Every player from the first minute does not put his foot down, fighting for every ball. As a result, the first ten minutes of the competition were mainly held in the center of the field.
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The intensity of the Italian league lead
Over time, Napoli began to press harder and Juventus began to defend very deeply. It didn’t take long for Spalletti’s men to take advantage. In the 16th minute, after a beautiful work by the hosts and an intervention from Szczęsny after Kvaratskhelia’s shot, Victor Osimhen smashed the ball into the practically empty goal.
In the next minutes, Napoli’s pressure did not diminish, but they found their chances to score a goal Pikmin Juventus. First, Rahmani’s missed pass was converted for a shot against the crossbar by Angel Di Maria. A few minutes later, Arkadiusz Milik came to the position in the penalty area, but the visiting striker shot directly at Alex Meret.
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After a few minutes of Juventus excelling, Napoli got into action again and came back for revenge. The apogee of the attacks came in the 39th minute, when Victor Osimhen reached the long ball that looked harmless after Bremer’s foul. The Nigerian quickly sent the ball to the left flank, where Kvaratskhelia was accelerating, and had no problems scoring the goal.
Quite unexpectedly, after a few moments it was time for the guests to respond. And Di Maria, who played a good game, decided on an individual action, winning a hole in front of the penalty area and playing for Arkadiusz Milik. And soon the pole gave the ball to the Argentine, who was able to shoot accurately from several meters.
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This is not the end of Juventus’ chances in the first half. In additional time, Frederico Chiesa made the first good work on the flank, who, after dribbling, managed to pass the ball into the penalty area. Although the ball did not go to any of the Juve wing mates, Rahmani came very close to scoring an own goal, but Alex Merritt saved his skin.
Madness in Italian
The second half started very quietly, because of a long break related to the injury of Manuel Locatelli. But after a while, the situation flared up again. First, Di Maria came close to scoring a goal, who tried to clear the ball from a corner kick. This time Giovanni Di Lorenzo reacted well, clearing the ball. A few moments later, Napoli got a corner kick and used it better. Although Mario Rui’s cross was bad and wide, the ball fell at the feet of a difficult day for Rahmani. Albanian did not think long and hit the goal, bringing it to 3: 1.
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This was not the end of Juventus’ big problems. After a few tens of seconds, the score would have been 4-1, but Osimhen’s shot went past the goal. The situation of Napoli was again provoked by Bremer, who certainly did not have the best day.
From the score 3-1, we saw a real display of Spalletti’s team. The hosts, even defending for a moment, after a while immediately launched an attack, ending in a grave situation. The players of the leaders of the Italian League fought their way and raised the score in the 65th minute of the match, when Mario forced Rui Bremer to commit another own error. Kvaratskhelia – Osimhen duo quickly took advantage of this, giving the team from the south a 4: 1 lead.
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When it looked like it was all over, the southern Italian players decided to keep going. What did he get out of it? Another beautiful work. When Juventus players progressed to a higher level, much more space was created in the defensive third than the visitors. The hosts immediately took advantage of this, sending the ball towards the unmarked Elmas. He kicked a ball after one dribble, and it hit the net. After 70 minutes it was 5:1.
The next few minutes were a time for the home fans to celebrate. It is clear that both teams have lowered their tone, although Juventus have tried to improve their goal setting. However, it was very difficult for them, mainly due to the excellent play of the hosts’ defenders.
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In the end, the match ended with a score of 5: 1. For Napoli, this was the biggest victory over the “old lady” since 1990, when Diego Maradona was still playing for the southern team. At the same time, in one evening, Juventus almost doubled the number of goals conceded in the current season league Italian. The hosts of today’s meeting also cemented themselves at the top of the Italian league table, escaping Turin by 10 points.
