Napoli-Roma 2-2
GOALS: 7′ pt Malen, 40′ pt Spinazzola, 26′ st Malen (rig), 37′ st Alisson Santos.
NAPLES (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic 6; Rrahmani 5 (25′ st Alisson Santos 7), Buongiorno 5.5, Beukema 6; Gutierrez 5, Lobotka 6, Elmas 6.5 (34′ st Gilmour sv), Spinazzola 6.5 (25′ st Olivera 6); Politano 6 (39′ st Mazzocchi sv), Vergara 5.5 (34′ st Giovane 6.5); Hojlund 6. On the bench: Meret, Contini, Lukaku. Coach: Conte 6.5.
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar 6.5; Mancini 6.5, Ndicka 7, Ghilardi 6; Celik 5.5, Cristante 6, Pisilli 6 (20′ st El Ayanoui 6), Wesley 7 (27′ st Tsimikas 5.5); Pellegrini 5.5 (20′ st Venturino 5.5), Zaragoza 6 (1′ st Soule 6); Malen 8 (27′ st Vaz 6). On the bench: De Marzi, Gollini, Rensch, Angelino, Ziolkowski, Della Rocca. Coach: Gasperini 6.5.
REFEREE: Colombo of Como 6.5.
NOTES: Cloudy evening, pitch in excellent condition. Booked: Mancini, Rrahmani. Corners: 2-1. Recovery time: 2′ pt; 4′ st.
Napoli and Roma did not disappoint expectations, providing endless excitement in the big match on Sunday in Serie A. At the “Maradona” the Giallorossi took the lead twice thanks to an overflowing Malen, but Antonio Conte’s team responded blow for blow and with Spinazzola and Alisson Santos managed to gain a precious point to keep the Capitoline team at a distance in the standings. Napoli still in an emergency and having to do without McTominay, Roma without Dybala and with a Soulé who is not at his best starting from the bench. Then Gasperini showed up, starting the new signing Zaragoza from the 1st minute, and the Spaniard – together with the other winter striker Malen – scored the opening goal after less than seven minutes. Ndicka starts the counterattack by anticipating Vergara, Pisilli serves the former Bayern player in depth who he puts into the area finding the Dutch center forward who anticipates his compatriot Beukema with an unstoppable right-footed shot for Milinkovic-Savic. The Giallorossi’s all-out pressing hurts Conte’s team, which risks on at least a couple more occasions during the first half hour, always with Malen who is a constant thorn in the side of the Neapolitan defensive trio. Napoli who, despite managing possession, are unable to find gaps in the opponent’s rearguard, so in the 40th minute Spinazzola decides to go on his own and try from outside. Pisilli’s deflection was decisive in deceiving Svilar and the tie was suddenly restored to 1-1 before the break.
The hosts return to the field for the second half with another attitude and after a few seconds it is Spinazzola who threatens again, but Svilar stretches out and saves his diagonal shot from close range. The pace seems to slow down, leaving room for about twenty minutes where tactics reign supreme. Just before the 70th minute, yet another intelligent play by Malen launches Wesley into the open field and Rrahmani is unable to recover except by overwhelming him in the area. Both end up getting injured on the occasion and are forced to leave the field. Penalty for Roma: Soule leaves the spot kick to Malen and the Dutchman doesn’t let himself be hypnotized by Milinkovic-Savic, scoring his fifth goal in as many games. However, the former Aston Villa player is not the only new signing to show off, because in the 82nd minute the match takes a new turn, with the Giovane-Alisson Santos duo combining for a new draw. Napoli tries everything, Gutierrez in the last minute of injury time attempts a curling shot that would be worth the full spoils, but Svilar rejects and seals the score at 2-2. Roma are therefore unable to gain a lead in the standings, with Napoli at 50 maintaining a three-point advantage over Mancini and his teammates at 47, +1 over fifth-placed Juventus.