Empoli and Napoli were forced to settle for a share of the spoils after playing-out an entertaining 2-2 draw overnight.
The match at the Carlo Castellani was one that was two points dropped at either end with both teams having chances to win, in the showdown of Napoli’s coach Maurizio Sarri pitted against his previous club.
Napoli would have been expected to win the game, however, going behind twice in the opening 20 minutes did not help their cause and they only managed to take the draw out of this game. They had plenty of chances later in the second-half to record their first win of the season, but Partenopei could not close it out and now sit on a mere two points from three games.
Forget Hamsik, Insigne is the key!
It was seen from the match that Lorenzo Insigne is the go-to playmaker for Napoli this season. He scored the team’s first goal and that was not long after hitting the crossbar from a cheeky chip attempt – although it was eventually called back for offside.
Insigne’s goal was a classy finish after a good set up pass from Manolo Gabbiadini, leaving the goalkeeper with absolutely no chance of saving the shot. For the rest of the half he was the focal point for any creativity up front, or the only one who was creating genuine chances. It was strange to see him come off early after this performance, although he did go quiet in the second-half.
https://youtu.be/iMqsq_PX15o
Napoli’s defence lapses again
There is a big reason why Napoli had just the one draw from their first two games leading into this weekend. It was just simple passes through from the hosts that beat the defence, although admittedly they were well played, there were still numerous defensive errors. Riccardo Saponara could have been offside for the first goal, had Christian Maggio been up with the rest of the line. The second was not any better, with Raul Albiol pressing0-up too quickly and then failing to track the run of Saponara, who assisted the goal even with a very strong argument to be made that his hand was used to control the ball.
Empoli are dangerous in attack
Empoli showed right from the start that they are a forced to be reckoned with, scoring two goals before the half-hour mark. Saponara was a catalyst to this, netting the first himself and then setting up the second. For the whole opening 45 minutes it looked as if Fabrizio Corsi’s men had the potential to increase the lead further and with the inconsistencies of the Napoli defence, looked like they could easily make them pay.
In the second-half Partenopei started to control possession a little more while chasing the game, yet Empoli still looked as though they could score at any time, with the threat still being there to the visiting defence.
Napoli’s Substitutes came on and controlled the game more
The three substitutes of Jorginho, Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon changed the balance of the game for Napoli and started to assist the change in possession dominance. Although Mirko Valdifiori played well, the fresh legs managed to settle the team down and started to pile more pressure onto the Empoli defence after Allan levelled in the 50th minute to make it 2-2.
The pace of Mertens and Callejon from the bench looked dangerous on the wings, but it was to no avail with the scores remaining locked after the 50th minute. Jorginho, on the other hand, was a very dynamic focal point for Napoli, controlling the team from his defensive-midfield position. Coming on due to an injury to Valdifiori, he deserves to get a starting spot in the team for their next match against Lazio.
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Both teams’ strikers need to learn to stay onside
There were a number of opportunities to score a winner throughout the game, but the attackers at both ends were called back seven times between the two teams for being in offside positions. Of these, two of Napoli’s chances hit the post and may have been the difference had they stayed onside. But this is a could have, would have and should have, moments in a game that went begging for either team.
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