Lazio went from zero to hero, stunning reigning champions Napoli with a Luis Alberto back-heel flick and Daichi Kamada strike, along with two more goals disallowed.
These were the top two last term, but had very different openings to 2023-24. Kvicha Kvaratskhelia made his first start of the season after recovering from a minor knock, but the Aquile had Pedro struggling with an ankle injury as they arrived still looking for their first point of the campaign.
Within three minutes, Kvaratskhelia already saw a shot deflected just wide of the near post, then Ivan Provedel pushed a dangerous Piotr Zielinski free kick out from under the bar. On the resulting corner, Victor Osimhen’s header swung wide.
Provedel flew to fingertip a ferocious Kvaratskhelia strike over the bar, but it was Lazio who took the lead against the run of play.
It was a sensational goal, as Felipe Anderson burst down the right and pulled back from the by-line for the cheeky Luis Alberto back-heel flick to surprise Alex Meret at the near post.
However, it didn’t last long, because Piotr Zielinski gathered from the edge of the area and saw his finish take a double deflection off Daichi Kamada and Alessio Romagnoli to wrong-foot Provedel.
Felipe Anderson went on a run to squirm between two defenders and see his finish blocked by Juan Jesus from close range, then Danilo Cataldi got back to block off the Stanislav Lobotka assist for Osimhen.
Within a minute of the restart there were chances at both ends, a huge Provedel save on the Zielinski half-volley that was going under the bar, then Meret on Ciro Immobile although the offside flag went up.
Lazio restored their lead with a great counter-attacking move. Felipe Anderson robbed Zielinski in midfield, his pass was let through by a classy Luis Alberto dummy to find Kamada, whose finish from a tight angle went across Meret into the far bottom corner.
Matteo Guendouzi made his Biancocelesti debut off the bench and an immediate impact, because first he completed a give and go with Zaccagni for a goal that was ruled offside by VAR.
Soon after, Guendouzi had scored it himself by blasting in with the right boot from the edge of the area. However, that too was disallowed, as Zaccagni was offside and the Luis Alberto pass to him was intercepted by Di Lorenzo, leading directly to the Guendouzi finish.
Pedro also had a great chance on the counter, only to stumble on the ball when going clear, as Napoli struggled to cause problems for Lazio.
Napoli 1-2 Lazio
Luis Alberto 30 (L), Zielinski 32 (N), Kamada 52 (L)
Player statistic
| 26' |  |
Mattia Zaccagni | ||
| 30' |  |
Luis Alberto (Assist: Felipe Anderson) | ||
| Piotr Zielinski | |
32' |
| 52' | |
Daichi Kamada (Assist: Felipe Anderson) | ||
| 60' | |
Luis Alberto |
Match statistic
