Luciano Spalletti admits Napoli ‘didn’t do enough’ in their shock home defeat to Spezia, warning they need to ‘look over our shoulders’ as Juventus close in on the top four.
The Partenopei seem to lurch from negative results to positive and back again, as in the last four rounds they beat Milan at San Siro, but lost three consecutive home games to Atalanta, Empoli and Spezia.
Incredibly, Spezia didn’t have a real shot on target tonight, they only won thanks to Juan Jesus deflecting a free kick into his own net.
Serie A | Napoli 0-1 Spezia: Juan Jesus own goal shocks Spalletti
Spalletti revealed that President Aurelio De Laurentiis visited the locker room after the game to congratulate his players on their 2021 and wish them a merry Christmas.
“We lost a bad game, because we controlled it for long periods, but didn’t do enough to finish our scoring opportunities,” the coach told DAZN.
“We didn’t create enough spaces in the final third or make the moves that would split the Spezia defence. Then we got irritable in the second half and were lacking that final ball.”
Dries Mertens started the match, but was replaced by Andrea Petagna for the restart.
“It was my choice, I wanted more weight upfront. Unfortunately, it didn’t pay off. Now we have to go home and rest, there is a little fatigue and we are struggling now.
“Unfortunately, without Victor Osimhen we don’t have as many options for attacking, so we need to always pass it around and unlock defences that way.”
Spalletti was asked how this affects the Scudetto race, seeing as Napoli are now seven points adrift of leaders Inter and four away from Milan.
“We have to look over our shoulders too, because if we don’t win, then those behind us are going to close in.”
Juventus are now five points behind Napoli in third and they go head-to-head when the Serie A season resumes on January 6.
LIVE TMW – Napoli, Spalletti: “Sconfitta difficile da accettare. Mertens? Scelta mia” https://t.co/FbtYVAHZIL
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