Napoli – AS Roma: Courageous Roma Fall Late To Runaway Leaders Napoli (2-1)

After a high-intensity clash, Napoli clinched a crucial win against Roma thanks to a late Giovanni Simeone’s strike. Roma chose to press high and limited Napoli’s attempts to keep control of the game, but the league leaders once again found extra resources coming from the bench and extended the gap to a whopping 13 points lead over the nearest rivals, Inter Milan.
Tactical analysis and match report written by Giovanni Cesaroni.

As the second half of the Serie A season had just kicked off, Roma visited league leaders Napoli with clear intentions to put a dent on their seemingly unchallenged title ambitions. 

After all, Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli still had one more hurdle to overcome after a highly challenging January’s fixture list, in the shape of a determined and confident José Mourinho’s Roma. However, with all the most credited rivals suffering heavy defeats in recent weeks, Napoli had a solid chance to start their long sprint for the title, further propelling their positive momentum.

In front of a packed Diego Maradona Stadium, the hosts confirmed their usual 4-3-3 setup, with the only change from the last 0-2 away win against Salernitana, represented by the return of Khvicha Kavaratskhelia in the place of Eljif Elmas, alongside Hirving Lozano and Serie A’s top scorer Victor Osimhen. 

Undefeated since early November and able to obtain two convincing 2-0 wins in the last two league outings, Roma lined up in a 3-4-2-1 formation with captain Lorenzo Pellegrini returning from the start alongside Paulo Dybala in support of the striker Tammy Abraham while Leonardo Spinazzola took the spot on the left side, replacing the suspended Zeki . . .