Lazio Roma – Napoli: Napoli Escape With Huge Win To Jump To The Top (1-2)

After both Milan and Inter were held to draws by sides in the bottom half of the table on Friday, Napoli had a huge chance to jump up to the top of the table in this Serie A cracker. Lazio would be no pushovers though, as they needed to stay at the top of their game to succeed in the tight race for Europe. After some very late drama, Napoli just about came away with all three points even though their performance was not exactly up to scratch.

Tactical analysis and match report by Neel Shelat.

After a strong start to the new year that saw Lazio defeated just once in their first six matches, things have gone south. Just one win in their last five games does not make for great reading, but it might be a blessing in disguise, as three of those matches led to Lazio’s elimination from both the Europa League and Coppa Italia, allowing them to focus solely on the league. They were still holding onto sixth spot ahead of Fiorentina and city rivals Roma, but were only one bad result away from slipping down to eighth.

Napoli too suffered elimination from the Europa League in midweek, which similarly could be good news for them as they can now concentrate fully on their title charge. Contenders Milan and Inter both dropped points prior to Napoli’s last league match against Cagliari last Monday, but they failed to capitalize and only came away with a point. This week too, both capital clubs dropped points, so Napoli had another huge chance to strengthen their position in the battle for the title.

Lazio lined . . .

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