Looking to keep pace with the league leaders, Napoli travelled to the Stadio Artemio Franchi to battle Fiorentina.
The hosts had other ideas for the Azzurri though, scoring first in the fifth minute before an immediate response just seconds after the kick-off, following some poor defensive work from the home team.
This took Gonzalo Higuain’s tally to 25 goals now for the season and he does not look like stopping yet. A very poor second-half saw neither team able to break the deadlock and now leaves Juventus three points ahead of Napoli as the Serie A heads towards the last 10 games of 2015-16.
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Fiorentina would win a crossbar challenge
Twice during the first-half Firoentina had great chances to go up before the break, but both times they managed to hit the bar.
The first was off the back of a Kalidou Koulibaly error that saw Kalinic one-on-one with Pepe Reina, breating the goalkeeper to only hit the crossbar. The second occasion saw Alex Tello also beat Reina with his curled shot, however, he was also denied by the crossbar
Napoli need to relearn the offside rule
Offside calls just were not going the way of Napoli, particularly in the first-half with attacks being broken up by a couple of very close, but correct calls on Higuain and Lorenzo Insigne. Higuain also managed to put another in the net toward the end of the game, yet it was overruled for offside.
The bigger issue is at the defensive end, with the backline stopping due to perceived offsides on the opposition. There has been a couple where the two centre-backs are two busy worrying about trying to get the call and to be fair the second hit on the post was offside, however, everyone playing since a young age knows you go to the whistle.
https://youtu.be/G_IqCSlxI68
Both teams will need to work on clearances during the week
It was a very interesting start to the game for both teams, given plenty of chances considering that neither could really clear the ball out of their own penalty area. Napoli had a few sights in the opening minutes before the first goal was scored.
The equaliser showed Fiorentina’s issues, with a horribly timed clearance put straight to Higuain with the goalkeeper well out of position in a lack of communication, allowing an easy goal from distance.
Higuain hits the quarter century
Higuain’s goal in this game took him to a total of 25 for the season after just 27 outings. The record total of 36 for a season is still within reach for him if Napoli can continue their goal scoring form. He could have taken his total to 26 had he not been offside towards the end of the game. A lot of the major opponents have now played Napoli twice, which leaves mid to bottom of the table teams for Higuain to try and reach this record.
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