Napoli feasts at Monza
Napoli beat Monza 1-4 this Wednesday to return to the path of victory, in a match on the ninth round of Serie A that was put on track with an early goal from Rasmus Hojlund and resolved in the second half with goals from Matteo Politano, Rafa Marín and Kevin De Bruyne.
MONZA
1
4
NAPLES
1 – Monza: Tornqvist; Lucchesi (Antov, min.74), Goglichidze (Carboni, min.46), Bakoune; Birindelli, Colombo, Foe Ondoa (Akinsanmiro, min.60), R. Mangas; Ngonge (Colpani, min.60), Robinson (Zeballos, min.69); and G. Varela.
4 – Naples: Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani (Marianucci, min.46), Rafa Marin, Olivera; Anguissa (De Bruyne, min.64), Lobotka (Gilmour, min.17), McTominay; Politano (Vergara, min.64), Hojlund (Lucca, min.81) and Lang.
Goals: 0-1, Hojlund (min.10); 1-1, G. Varela (min.43); 1-2, Politano (min.48); 1-3, Rafa Marin (min.62); 1-4, De Bruyne (min.67).
Referee: Giovanni Ayroldi. He showed a yellow card to Goglichidze (min.8), to coach Ivan Juric (min.26), to Foe Ondoa (min.53) and to Colombo (min.88) by Monza.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the ninth matchday of Serie A, played at the U-Power Stadium in Monza (northern Italy).
The Neapolitan team, led this Wednesday by Marco Landucci, technical assistant to Massimiliano Allegri, expelled for “aggressive attitude” in the last match against Roma, came out with the initiative and was able to open the can very quickly, in the 10th minute.
Giovanni di Lorenzo found Hojlund with a through pass, who made space for himself in front of the defense and resolved with a cross shot from near the area.
Monza tried to respond through quick transitions and insistently looked for the Portuguese Gustavo Varela, their main offensive reference and centerpiece of the Lombard team. The attacker tried his luck on several occasions and forced Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to act.
The Partenopean team, for its part, was decisive on the wings, with Noa Lang and Matteo Politano as protagonists, and with Kevin de Bruyne from the bench in rotation. Stanislav Lobotka had to leave the field on a stretcher in the 15th minute.
Equality came in the 43rd minute. Robinson lifted a cross into the area and Varela coordinated to finish with a header, with a precise turn that surprised Milinkovic-Savic and made it 1-1. Varela, who is in a state of grace, thus added his eighth goal and is now the league’s top scorer.
The start of the second half, after both coaches introduced changes, was a déjà vu of what happened in the first half. In the 48th minute, Politano picked up a loose ball inside the area and found the bottom left corner of the goal with a tight shot to put Napoli back ahead on the scoreboard.
The southern Italian team took the lead. In the 61st minute, Spaniard Rafa Marín rose from a corner kick and connected with a header that made it 1-3.
De Bruyne’s departure to the field had an immediate effect. In the 66th minute, the Belgian received an assist from Lang and resolved with a shot between the goalkeeper’s legs, to make it 1-4, which closed the game.
Allegri’s team thus returned to victory after the draw against Roma last day.
