Juventus survives a strong half of Napoli and takes back the lead
Friday, December 8, 2023 at 10:45 PM
Juventus has done excellent business in Serie A. The team of coach Massimiliano Allegri won 1-0 against reigning national champion Napoli. The big man in the Bianconeri side was once again Federico Gatti. The defender scored the winner against AC Monza deep in injury time last week and was worth gold again with a goal just after half-time against Napoli: 1-0. Juventus now has one point more than Internazionale, which still has to take action. Napoli drops to fifth place.
On the Juventus side, Allegri opted for the striker pair Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa. Former FC Groningen winger Filip Kostic was stationed on the left of midfield. Napoli entered in its strongest possible formation on paper. Victor Osimhen was in the striker position and was flanked by Matteo Politano and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Napoli started the game furiously and became dangerous from standard situations. Amir Rrahmani quickly thought he would make it 0-1, but his header flew wide via Gleison Bremer. Politano also came very close. The winger saw his effort go over the top of the crossbar.
Juventus also showed themselves and almost scored with their first good chance. Chiesa laid off to Vlahovic, whose shot was deflected by Natan. Weston McKennie tried from the rebound with a spectacular bicycle kick, but a goal was prevented by a quick release from Alex Meret.
The biggest chance of the match came just before the half hour. Osimhen was far too fast for the Juventus defense and offered Kvaratskhelia a huge opportunity. The Georgian did not handle the ball well and shot wildly over eye-to-eye with Wojciech Szczesny. After clumsy defending at Juventus, Giovanni Di Lorenzo got the next big chance. However, from close range he shot into Szczesny.
Just after halftime, Juventus broke the spell. A few minutes after Vlahovic hit the crossbar in an offside position, Gatti scored. A throw-in initially yielded nothing. Andrea Cambiaso then swung the ball perfectly towards the far post, where Gatti headed it into the far corner: 1-0. Napoli had to give chase and had a header opportunity through André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, but the Cameroonian did not create enough danger.
Twenty minutes before the end, Osimhen thought he had scored the equalizer. A dramatic kick from Szczesny was headed back by the visitors to the Nigerian, who then managed to outwit the Polish goalie. The assistant referee flagged for offside and, to the disappointment of Partenopei, that turned out to be correct. Frustration at Napoli increased at times in the final phase, knowing that the deficit could no longer be repaired.
Nr.TeamMWGVP1Juventus151131362Internazionale141121353AC Milan14923294AS Roma14734245Napoli15735246Fiorentina14725237Bologna14572228Atalanta14626209Lazio146262010Torino145451911Monza144641812Frosinone145361813Lecce143741614Genoa144371515Sassuolo144371516Udinese141941217Empoli143291118Hellas Verona142481019Cagliari142481020Salernitana141588
2023-12-08 21:45:00
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