Fiorentina-Napoli 1-1
GOALS: 23′ pt Gilmour, 6′ st Jimenez.
FIORENTINA (4-2-3-1): De Gea 7.5; Jimenez 6.5, Dragusin 6.5, L.Ranieri 6 (40’st Pongracic sv.), Viery 6 (1’st Valdepenas 6); Ndour 5.5, Beans 6; Mastantuono 6, Atta 5.5 (21’st Pedro Goncalves 6), Njie 6 (35′ Gnonto sv.); Pellegrino 6 (21’st Beto 6). On the bench: Lezzerini, Christensen, Dodo, Brescianini, Joao Mario, Oulai, Mazzeo. Coach: Vanoli 6.
NAPLES (4-3-3): Milinkovic-Savic 7; Di Lorenzo 5.5, Rrahmani 6, Rafa Marin 5.5, Olivera 6.5; Gilmour 7, Lobotka 6.5 (45’st Anguissa sv.), De Bruyne 5.5; Politano 6.5 (27’st Favasuli 6), Hojlund 5.5 (13’st Lucca 5.5), Lang 5 (13’st Neres 6). On the bench: Pugliese, Contini, Beukema, Badiashile, Vergara. Coach: Allegri 5.5.
REFEREE: Duties of Rome 6.5.
NOTES: humid and hot afternoon, soil in excellent condition. Before the starting whistle, a period of silence was observed in memory of former footballer Sandro Mazzola, who passed away yesterday. Attendance: 22,567. Proceeds: 704,357.46 euros. Booked: Mastantuono, L.Ranieri. Corners: 5 to 3 for Napoli. Recovery: 1′; 5′.
Fiorentina and Napoli share the stakes in the first lunch match of the season. A beautiful, entertaining challenge, full of twists and turns, and with only two goals in the final scoreboard thanks to the two goalkeepers, both best on the pitch for their respective teams. The Azzurri pass first, the Viola equalize at the start of the second half, but there is no shortage of opportunities until the end, and at the final whistle there is a mixture of disappointment and general satisfaction, even if for the guests the summit moves further away. It is the hosts, lined up with a 4-2-3-1 that sees floating in the midfield, who play the game, trying to break through in particular on the outside with the Njie-Mastantuono pair. The latter in particular is very inspired, so much so that it was the Argentinian from the River school who served Atta in the 17th minute, with the former Udinese player however hitting the crossbar. Not even a hundred seconds later, Fagioli also takes one with a personal conclusion deflected onto the horizontal wood by Milinkovic-Savic.
The alarm sounds for the guests and the response is immediate with Olivera first hitting a post, then forcing De Gea into a miracle right after his initial shot bounces off the woodwork. On the corner Napoli passes: he beats Politano, Gilmour comes in from the back completely unmarked and blasts De Gea. Fiorentina suffers the backlash and takes a long time to react, also because the Azzurri are comfortable in covering themselves and trying to restart. At the start of the second half Vanoli immediately tries the Valdepenas card, removing the adaptable Viery on the left, and even with a bit of luck the Tuscans equalize thanks to a shot by Jimenez deflected into his own goal by Marin: 1 to 1 in the 51st minute. Max Allegri thus decides to change his attack: out Hojlung, and especially Lang, after yet another failed test, in Lucca and Neres. However, a miracle is needed from Milinkovic-Savic to say no to Valdepenas on a counterattack launched by Njie. De Gea equalizes with his colleague, avoiding the 1-2 first on Neres, then on Favasuli, who recently came on as a substitute. The match at the end, in which Anguissa is also back on the pitch, is lively and open, the two teams never give up on seeking the three points despite the high temperatures close to thirty degrees. It ends one by one, certainly the fairest result.