After a bumpy start, SSC Napoli are now getting the results right. Thanks to the 4-0 win at basement side Cagliari Calcio, the Neapolitans already have a strong nine points from four games. But not everything was right this evening
Is this the kind of soccer Antonio Conte wants to see? Certainly not. The Napoli side, who boasted a big-name attacking line-up – this time with top new signing Lukaku in the starting eleven for the first time when they visited Cagliari Calcio – failed to do much.
They only showed great dominance in phases, if at all. The players also made a number of misplaced passes and lost possession against a club from Sardinia, who were willing to hold their own and found themselves bottom of the table without a win this season
The big Meret show
And yet it was suddenly 1:0 in the 18th minute because luck played its part. After Lukaku’s cross, SSC captain di Lorenzo immediately took a low shot and scored into the bottom right corner, only for his opponent Yerry Mina to deflect it unstoppably.
This was followed by Meret’s performance, who had already saved a couple of times in the early stages – and now excelled himself. The southern Italian goalkeeper made strong saves against Azzi (19th), against Piccoli (41st) after the game was interrupted due to fan rioting, against Luperto immediately after the break (47th) and also from a Marin shot from distance (56th). The keeper steered the ball onto the crossbar with his fingertips.
In between, apart from a great chance for Lukaku, who had a close-range effort blocked by Zambo Anguissa (25′), there was not much going on from a Neapolitan perspective
No 1:1, but the 2:0, 3:0 and 4:0
Clearly, the Sardinians deserved at least a 1:1 here. But they couldn’t get past Meret – and in the end had to realize that it just wasn’t going to be enough in their clash with Napoli on matchday 4. Also because the favorites suddenly pulled away
First, Kvaratskhelia, who had been sent on a strong run by Lukaku, converted with ice-cold precision (66′), before the Belgian striker himself scored from close range to take his tally to two goals in his second game for the Partenopei (70′). After a manageable final phase, the defender Buongiorno, who had joined from FC Torino in the summer, also scored to make it 4:0 (90.+3).
