Federico Gatti once again came to the rescue for Juventus, as Napoli were made to pay for wasting two huge first half scoring opportunities.
The Bianconeri were still missing Timothy Weah, Mattia De Sciglio, Paul Pogba and Nicolò Fagioli, but Danilo had his first start in six weeks. With Mathias Olivera and Mario Rui out, Natan was again used as a left-back for a Napoli side that was 11 points adrift of leaders Inter.
Wojciech Szczesny struggled with an in-swinging Giovanni Di Lorenzo cross, then Matteo Politano’s curler from the edge of the box clipped the outside edge of the upright after nine minutes.
Juve threatened too, Federico Chiesa setting up Dusan Vlahovic for a shot denied by the Natan block, then Weston McKennie failed the overhead kick. Moments later, Chiesa went on a stunning run down the left riding three tackles for the pull-back intercepted by Stanislav Lobotka.
Napoli wasted a truly extraordinary chance when Osimhen gathered a long ball wide left, rolled across for the unmarked Kvaratskhelia, whose first touch was poor and he ballooned over one-on-one with Szczesny.
The Partenopei had another incredible opportunity on a Piotr Zielinski free kick, as Bremer’s header bounced off Federico Gatti and into the path of Di Lorenzo, denied by an unbelievable Szczesny save from five yards.
Vlahovic thumped the upright straight after the restart, but McKennie was offside on the knockback.
It was only a warning, as Juventus did take the lead moments later. Andrea Cambiaso’s cross found Gatti’s header at the back post from six yards, steering it back across Meret into the far bottom corner. The centre-back had given the Bianconeri a last-gasp winner against Monza only a few days ago.
Politano’s volley was deflected and the Chiesa curler was over the bar, but Vlahovic limped off with a muscular injury.
Napoli had the ball in the net on 69 minutes when Szczesny’s awful pass out from the back was intercepted by Politano and knocked back for Osimhen, but the Nigerian was offside.
Di Lorenzo hit the side-netting after a good Kvaratskhelia mazy run, but after winning both home and away last season including a 5-1 triumph, the Partenopei were defeated by Juve for the first time since April 2021.
Juventus 1-0 Napoli
Gatti 51 (J)
Player statistic
| 45+1' |  |
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia |
| Federico Gatti (Assist: Andrea Cambiaso) |
 |
51' | ||
| Bremer | |
58' | ||
| 63' | |
Juan Jesus | ||
| 86' | |
Leo Östigard | ||
| Manuel Locatelli | |
90+5' | ||
| 90+5' | |
Victor Osimhen |
Match statistic
