Right at the start of the new Serie A season, Napoli made it clear that the league leadership is currently firmly in the hands of the southern Italians. Although the Partenopei also had a tough time against Como, they were able to easily secure the win in the end. The man of the match: a Belgian.
“I had offers from abroad. But I couldn’t refuse Napoli,” said Antonio Conte in his new role as coach of SSC Napoli, and promised himself and the entire Serie A competition: “Let’s forget last season – my SSC will be a raging beast.”
And indeed: despite the bumpy start to the season, when Conte’s approaches first had to seep into the Neapolitan DNA, the 2-0 win against Monza was the sixth victory in seven competitive games. In addition, the Partenopei had only conceded one goal during this period.
So there was a big hurdle for Cesc Fabregas and his protégés from newly promoted Como 1907 to overcome – even though the Serie A returnees themselves had recently rebelled and generated seven points from three games (3-2 against Hellas Verona).
A hurdle too big, as it turned out. Because after less than 30 seconds of play, the hosts took the lead at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. There was a push forward before pass provider Lukaku found McTominay. The Scottish international, who was wanted by Conte from Manchester United in the summer, made a well-placed and precise shot into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0. That was also the newcomer’s first goal.
As a result, however, the home side rested far too much on their narrow lead, which encouraged the underdog to be more courageous. And finally, to the successful offensive action for the well-deserved 1-1 equalizer. The ball was pushed forward via the agile Paz and provider Perrone, before Strefezza got hold of it and finished it with a low shot into the bottom left corner (43′).
With the restart, however, the balance of power was restored. Also because the guests from Lake Como were helping diligently: Sergi Roberto was caught offside in his own penalty area, hitting Matias Olivera – and the resulting penalty was safely converted by Lukaku to make it 2-1 (53′ ). For the Belgian striker, with whom Conte had already worked successfully at Inter, this was already the third goal of the season in five appearances.
The rest is quickly told: This time, the southern Italians did not let up, but instead kept the pressure on and scored the final 3:1 in the final minutes after a great pass from Lukaku by the substitute David Neres, who had broken through (86′): Lukaku not only completed this game as a wall-player and ball-holder, he also scored a safe penalty and provided two assists. With that, Napoli defended the recently won lead in the standings against the chasing pack right from the start of this 7th Serie A matchday. Como, on the other hand, conceded another defeat after their interim high.