AS Roma 1-4 Napoli
Three second half goals scored by a rampant Napoli side gave them a convincing Serie A victory over troubled Roma.
This fixture is normally one of the big clashes in the Italian league, but today it turned out to be a walk in the park for Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli. Roma fans have been hoping that the return of Claudio Ranieri as head coach would spark an upturn in their fortunes but this was a disastrous performance on their home turf.
According to the pre-match Roma vs Napoli betting odds this should have been a tight game with Napoli as a marginal favourite at 2.33, but having led for the vast majority of the game the three points were only briefly in doubt when Roma grabbed a first half injury time equaliser from the penalty spot.
Highlights of the game
Roma strikers Edin Dzeko and Stephan El Shaarawy had an almighty row after I Giallorossi lost to SPAL last time out. But they were kept apart today as there was no sign of El Shaarawy on the pitch or subs bench, and that made the home side look rather toothless.
Lorenzo Insigne has been an inspirational player for Napoli and he’s a driven man, still haunted by his penalty miss that handed Juventus a crucial win in a recent top of the table clash. But he too was absent in this game and that gave Jose Callejon the captain’s armband and Simone Verdi a starting place, and both stood up to the task admirably, Verdi in particularly putting in a superb performance.
There was a goal at either end of the first half as Arkadiusz Milik latched on to a Verdi through ball and hammered his shot into the top right corner to give the visitors a second minute lead.
The stadium fell silent and Ranieri looked crestfallen, and increasingly worried, as Verdi peppered the home goal with shots. Roma keeper Robin Olsen made a superb save late in the first half after Fabian Ruiz fed Verdi just outside the box and he rifled a shot towards the bottom corner. And that save looked all the more important when Napoli keeper Alex Meret pulled down Patrik Schick in the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot.
Diego Perotti fired the spot kick coolly into the bottom right corner and the Stadio Olimpico came to life again.
The home fans must have hoped the equaliser, in the fourth minute of injury time, would give their side some momentum, but the outcome was quite the opposite. Napoli started the second half with great tempo and restored their lead just four minutes in. Captain Callejon crossed for Dries Mertens to fire his tenth league goal of the season home from close range. Napoli snatched a late point against Roma back in October, thanks to a Mertens strike but this game was an altogether more comfortable outing for Gli Azzurri. And the visitors went further ahead just five minutes later when they broke quickly and Simone Verdi took a pass from Fabian Ruiz to fire home his well deserved goal.
And that was that. Amin Younes still had time to make it 1-4, late in the game firing home with ease from a corner.
It was another bad day at the office for Roma.
Key statistics
Napoli ran out deserved winners having enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and winning the shot count by 20 to 14 with ten to three on target.
Milik’s early strike was his 16th league goal of the season.
Gli Azzuri used the ball brilliantly with a passing completion of over 90 per cent while the hosts completed 81 per cent of their passes. And it was a busy day for the referee, handing out six yellow cards, four to the frustrated hosts and two to Napoli.
I Giallorossi still lead the head to head Roma vs Napoli results in the 40 games played since 1993, but that will be scant consolation for their fans.
What’s next?
Next up, Roma has a home game against Fiorentina and then a visit to Sampdoria.
Neither will be easy. The Viola is in tenth and a dangerous opponent while Sampdoria is just two points behind Roma in seventh. These will be two good games for SBOBET Serie A fans to enjoy but testing for Ranieri.
Napoli has two games they expect to win, away to Empoli and then at home to Genoa, before taking on Unai Emery’s Arsenal in the Europa League.
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