Napoli took a while to finally break Spezia down, but Kvicha Kvaratskhelia converted a penalty before setting up two quickfire goals for Victor Osimhen and consolidating their Scudetto credentials.
The Partenopei went into this weekend 13 points clear at the top and with a full squad to choose from, but their hosts were missing nine players including suspended Emanuel Gyasi, injured M’Bala Nzola, Simone Bastoni, Emil Holm, Albin Ekdal, Joao Moutinho, Szymon Zurkowski, Jeroen Zoet, Jacopo Sala and Viktor Kovalenko. Even coach Luca Gotti wasn’t fit enough to sit on the bench after hip surgery, but Eldor Shomurodov was thrown into the starting XI for his debut.
It became immediately apparent that Napoli were moving the ball slowly and predictably, with Spezia ready to sprint forward on the counter, Kevin Agudelo firing over and seeing another shot charged down, much to the fury of Luciano Spalletti.
Mattia Caldara almost scored an own goal trying to intercept Mario Rui’s cross for Victor Osimhen, and on the resulting corner Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s header flashed wide.
Kvicha Kvaratskhelia juggled the ball between three defenders to turn and drill just past the near post, but Matteo Politano replaced Chucky Lozano and immediately changed the game.
Within seconds of the restart, he tried to get on the end of a long ball, so Arkadiusz Reca in a bid to hold him off at the by-line let it bounce, not realising it would strike his outstretched arm. It was an inevitable penalty, which Kvaratskhelia converted by blasting into the top corner.
The Georgia international also tested Dragowski after twisting and turning between defenders, while Osimhen had the ball in the net only after a visible shirt tug on Mattia Caldara.
Politano was caught napping and Reca flashed a ball across the face of goal, but there was nobody there for the tap-in, while Amir Rrahmani’s back-pass to Alex Meret was considered involuntary.
Instead, Napoli doubled their lead when Kvaratskhelia’s cross was deflected straight up into the air and Dragowski did not react quickly enough, allowing Osimhen to soar into the sky and nod into the empty net. Perhaps the goalkeeper assumed Osimhen couldn’t reach it that high, but he was wrong.
The third goal was not entirely dissimilar, as it was Caldara who was too sluggish on the edge of his own penalty area, robbed by Kvaratskhelia who generously rolled across for Osimhen’s tap-in from eight yards. It was the Nigerian’s 16th Serie A goal of the season.
Meret smothered an Agudelo solo effort, Medhi Bourabia blasted over the bar from a poor clearance and Raimond Krollis aimed a curler straight at the goalkeeper.
Spezia 0-3 Napoli
Kvaratskhelia pen 47 (N), Osimhen 68, 73 (N)
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