Napoli 1-0 Fiorentina
There were plenty of things on the line for Napoli fans when the Serie A Napoli vs Fiorentina match happened at the Stadio San Paolo.
Napoli were looking to continue the challenge on the ever-dominant Juventus by keeping up with them on the table, and winning this fixture was the most sure-fire way of keeping their hopes of finally stealing the Scudetto from the Old Lady alive.
However, Fiorentina have started the season with a bang and were looking especially dangerous before this match. The Viola were solid on defence and didn’t look like they were going to concede in the match. Frustration began to fill Naples as the men failed to get a goal.
However, some last-gasp magic from Lorenzo Insigne ensured that Napoli will be headed to the Champions League with the comfort that they are still level with the best team in Italy. Napoli fans at SBOBET were as equally happy to see their team win.
Highlights of the game
Any worries of the Napoli supporters had to be pushed aside when Napoli kicked off the game. The team knew the importance of the three points in their latest title bid, so they started their attacks quickly.
They produced the first real chance of the game as a precise pass saw Jose Callejon close to the danger zone with the football. The 31-year-old forward fired a beautiful strike to the left post, but Bartlomiej Dragowski managed to pull off a routine save to stop the attack.
Fiorentina withstood the early barrages and did a great job of denying Carlo Ancelotti’s men of clear attacking opportunities. However, they could not stop another gold chance from happening.
Elseid Hysaj managed to shake his marker off and meet a crossed ball. He created his own space and fired a shot that unfortunately went wide of the left post. It was from this point forward that the players and the supporters knew that it was going to be a long and uncomfortable 90 minutes of football for everyone involved.
The frustration of not scoring probably got to everyone as they got really physical with their fouls. Michael Fabbri got plenty of chances to practice his judgement as he awarded three yellow cards to Federico Chiesa, Piotr Zielinski and Marco Benassi in a span of ten minutes.
The first half ended in a draw. Ancelotti and Stefano Pioli had to rally their troops in order to turn the unsure tide in their favour and secure the three points. While it seemed like both squads got a renewed sense of purpose, a good chunk of the second half saw the same deadlock being played over and over.
Dries Mertens looked especially dangerous for Napoli. The Belgium forward — whose play probably influenced former gaffer Maurizio Sarri to bench Chelsea star Eden Hazard before his fantastic hat-trick — almost scored on the 56th minute. However, His ball sliced narrowly wide of the right post.
There wasn’t much anything going for both sides, and fans prepared themselves for a frustrating draw before Lorenzo Insigne saved Ancelotti’s hide and snag the three points.
It was the 79th minute, and only Arkadiusz Milik was the only friendly face deep in Fiorentina lands. Italy international Insigne skated to the left before quickly changing speeds and direction to catch his marker off guard. He got the pinpoint pass at around 12 yards from goal, made a single touch to control the ball, and fired it to the bottom left-hand corner. The impressive Dragowski could do nothing but watch the ball go in.
Fiorentina desperately tried to get back on the game, but there was too little time for them to make a comeback. The Napoli vs Fiorentina odds were proven true: the Gil Azzurri managed to scrap three points against a tough Fiorentina side in a manner reminiscent of their thrilling comeback against AC Milan.
Key statistics
Ancelotti has done work on Napoli’s defence, which is still heavily influenced by Sarri, in order to improve the squad. While he insists that he doesn’t want to completely overhaul the side due to the brilliance of Sarri’s ideas, the tweaks he made helped Napoli secure the three points.
I think the biggest defensive statistic that the many Napoli vs Fiorentina news pieces should focus on is the number of offsides Fiorentina committed. The Viola’s forwards were caught offside four times throughout 90 minutes. Napoli’s defence also saw Fiorentina only make seven goal attempts and settle for three corners.
Napoli’s attack is as overwhelming as ever. While they only made five shots on target, the 19 attempts they had probably had the Fiorentina backline running on fumes. Their persistence on the attack also results in four Fiorentina yellow cards and four saves from Dragowski.
What’s next?
SBOBET will closely follow Napoli’s latest attempt to usurp the Italian crown when they play Torino. Before they do that, however, they must board a plane to Serbia and square off against Red Star Belgrade. The Serbian giants have one of the most intimidating crowds in Europe, and they are in for one big game.
Meanwhile, Fiorentina won’t have any midweek games to worry about and can focus on bringing down Sampdoria.
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