Naples walks on water

The Neapolitan team celebrates one of the two goals scored by Victor Osimhen (right) in Napoli’s brilliant victory over Turin’s Juventus at the Diego Maradona Stadium. Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

Two goals from one, an achievement and an assist from the other, top scorers and assists from the Italian championship did it again on Saturday on the lawn of the Diego Maradona stadium. Victor Osimkhen, the Nigerian centre-forward, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Georgian winger, were, as usual, the great architects of this new success for the Azzurri, who were a real test for their Turin rivals, now relegated to the top ten. .

Also, with nine points ahead of their runners-up AC Milan, who hung out at Lecce (2-2) a few hours earlier, Napoli seem more than ever poised to win their first Scudetto in years.

“What a magical night! Glorified on social media, Kvaratskhelia, the successful choice of the Neapolitan summer transfer window, completely made us forget captain Lorenzo Insigne, who left for Canada.

With his goal suggested by Osimhen, who was quickly renamed “Quaradona” upon arrival, began his 2023 after a physical breakdown that bothered him a little before the break in between.

november. The Georgian, too, was celebrating with a finger to his lips, as if to silence the first criticism after that first slight slump.

With seven goals and seven assists and, above all, the ability to destabilize opponents with his dribbling and changing direction, the left winger remains indispensable for Luciano Spalletti, who constantly maintained his confidence.

“He has a technique worthy of the strongest in the world, and he has the quality to feel the goal, always find the most difficult corner,” praised his coach again on Friday.

Osimhen, “the most complete”

But Spalletti, the architect of a team focused on the offensive, the best attack in the league (44 goals in 18 days), as it was in the Champions League group stage (20 goals in six games), left his warmest compliments to Osimhen.

“He throws himself at all the balls. The farther the ball, the farther it goes, he has the courage to do everything, ”he listed the ex-Lillua, who arrived in Naples in the summer of 2020.

“What amazes me is the potential that he has yet to put into practice, he is the most perfect of all. He still has room to grow, ”he added after his double header at the gates of the Old Lady.”

Despite a muscle injury in September, the Nigerian has already scored twelve times in fourteen Serie A matches this season, a narrower spread than in previous exercises.

A sign of his progress: The masked centre-forward (he wore a guard after breaking his face last year) scored for the first time on Friday against one of the three big clubs in the north (Juventus, Inter, Milan). Enough to convince those who have hitherto reproached him for his lack of decisiveness in major meetings.

How often Osimhen has chosen to play with restraint in front of the microphones, preferring to thank his teammates and refusing to advance too much on the Scudetto, which seems to be reaching more and more towards Napoli.

“We want to continue like this. Talk about a headline? The road is still too long, we must continue to take points, ”he assured, in order to try to calm the ardor that was growing from match to match at the foot of Vesuvius, where we had been waiting for the championship title for more than 30 years. the old and the first two proposed in 1987 and 1990 by Diego Maradona.

A quest that the Neapolitans, however, will have to complete without the help of their tifosi outside for the next two months. Italian authorities have indeed imposed sanctions on Napoli and Roma following violent clashes between fans of the two clubs last Sunday in the motorway service area.

Milan lose again.

The road seems clearer than ever for the Neapolitans, given the difficulties faced by their direct competitors. Previously, Milan again lost valuable points in Lecce (2-2) and are now nine points behind the leader with one day left in the first leg.

Lag 2:0 after the first

an unlucky half hour, such as an own goal by Theo Hernandez conceded in the third minute of the game, the Rossoneri saved a point in the second half thanks to Rafael Leão and their captain, Davide Calabria.

But this AC Milan without brilliance deserved no better against a great team from Lecce (12th), unbeaten for six games and perfectly organized around Samuel Umtiti, who returned to great form.

These new points, lost by the Lombards after a 2-2 San Siro against Roma last weekend, are the work of their neighbors Inter, who finished in fourth place after dominating without the brilliant Hellas Verona (1-0) thanks to a goal Lautaro Martinez.

“Mistakes to Avoid”

Eliminated this week in the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia by Torino (1-0 points), the Rossoneri no longer follow the rhythm and the Italian Super Cup awaits them on Wednesday against Inter Milan in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Arabia. .

Thus, Milan were out of the game for almost the entire first period against an enthusiastic and uninhibited Lecce, who stayed at home thanks to successes against Atalanta (2:1) and Lazio (2:1).

Stefano Pioli’s team scored the first goal after losing the ball to Pierre Kalulu and scored against his camp by Theo Hernandez (3rd). After several great moments from Lecce, the second was logically headed by defender Federico Bashirotto (23rd).

“In the first half, we conceded everything we could miss, and the mistakes were very easy to avoid,” sighed DAZN Pioli, who replaced Theo Hernandez at half-time, but admitted that he could have left “a lot of other players.”

Milan waited until the last minutes of the first act to finally respond to a good header from Olivier Giroud (43rd).

In the absence of brilliance, the Milanese then found character to equalize with Leão (58th) from a tight angle, followed by a Calabria header from Giroud’s (70th).

Too little for the reigning champions who see their chances of keeping their crown in June seriously diminished, which Napoli have now placed a serious option on. “Before we hope to join Napoli, we must first find our principles of play,” Pioli concluded.

Source: AFP.

Source: L Orient Le Jour

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