Fiorentina ruined Napoli’s Scudetto dream in 2018 and could well do it again with a shock 3-2 victory at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Victor Osimhen returned from suspension, but Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Andrea Petagna, Kevin Malcuit and Adam Ounas were injured. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa also sat out a ban, as did Viola midfielder Lucas Torreira, while Giacomo Bonaventura and Alvaro Odriozola were on the treatment table.
Osimhen’s diving header on a floated Piotr Zielinski cross was inches wide and probably not offside, while Lorenzo Insigne’s lob landed on the roof of the net and Fabian Ruiz wasted from a very promising position.
Osimhen had the ball in the net on 14 minutes, but was clearly offside on the Zielinski cross-shot.
Cristiano Biraghi stung David Ospina’s gloves, but it was Fiorentina who took the lead with a classic counter-attack.
Biraghi pulled back from the by-line, Alfred Duncan’s cross was not cleared properly, Nico Gonzalez chested it down and smashed on the half-volley into the top corner from 12 yards with his right boot.
Mario Rui wasted a golden opportunity to equalise by blasting over the bar, while Insigne’s free kick was off target and Osimhen only hit the side-netting.
The equaliser arrived when Dries Mertens came off the bench and scored with practically his first touch. Insigne sent Osimhen down the left, he intelligently pulled it back for Mertens to sweep in first time right-footed from the edge of the box into the near bottom corner. It was the Belgian’s first goal since the birth of Ciro Romeo, so he celebrated by sucking his thumb.
However, Fiorentina restored their lead with another substitute, as Jonathan Ikone was given too much time and space in the area to control and drill his angled drive under Alessandro Zanoli’s legs into the far bottom corner. It was his first goal in the Viola jersey.
Chucky Lozano had the ball in the net moments later with a real snooker shot from the tightest of angles, but he was offside on the initial through ball.
Instead, Fiorentina extended their advantage to 3-1 with Arthur Cabral, who cut inside from the left, turned Stanislav Lobotka inside out and curled right-footed into the far bottom corner.
Mertens nodded over from a Lozano cross, but Napoli got one back when Osimhen chested down a long ball between two defenders, let it bounce and with smashed the volley first-time into the far top corner.
Napoli pushed to the bitter end, but Jose Callejon almost added a fourth for Fiorentina, hitting the side-netting against his old club.
Napoli 2-3 Fiorentina
Gonzalez 29 (F), Mertens 58 (N), Ikone 66 (F), Cabral 72 (F), Osimhen 84 (N)
The result I expected. Napoli always bottle it at home with a capacity crowd to disappoint.
Nobody can blame Napoli as they are not a club with deep pockets and a bench capable of winning a marathon. Milan will draw or lose tonight and Inter will get the job done esp with that game in hand.
@Gamal Did you bet on it? Or are you a hindsight expert?
@Fatecisognare Previous information tells me so.
In news that surprised no-one…but on a serious note, napoli’s starting 11 and even some of the subs are really up there technically, they just lack that psychological edge, that intensity in the crucial moments. Maybe if they had a mentality monster like zlatan, benzema etc they would fare better.
Napoli have the talent. It is just a southern Italian curse on them. I feel with the game in hand that Inter are being set up to win. But Napoli , or AC, have no one to blame but themselves. It hurts to watch them so close and choke year after year.
@Gamal You missed an open goal, then.
It’s a shame for Napoli. Of the top 3, they definitely play the best football but they really feel the weight of their history, especially when playing at home. This is a time when the manager is to blame because his job is to keep them focused, one game at a time, on what to do on the pitch instead of being caught up in the regional euphoria.