Serie A Napoli beats Udinese: Udinese and Napoli played out a 1-2 win for Napoli at the Dacia Arena in Udine. Both teams arrived with indifferent form, with Udinese winless in 5 and Napoli with one win in their last five.
Napoli were without Koulibaly, Osimhen,and Mertens, and with Milik out of favour. Udinese
were without Fernando Forestieri, Stefano Okaka, Mato Jajano and Bram Nuytinck.
On paper, Napoli seemed to have the better squad but it was Udinese that had the better
chances. However it was Napoli who went in first, with Hirving Lozano fouled in the box
and VAR awarding them a penalty; which was eventually finished by captain Lorenzo
Insigne on 14 minutes.
Debutant Napoli defender Amir Rrahmani had a torrid time, and looked nervous
throughout. It was his underplayed back-pass that was latched onto by Kevin Lasagna to
make it 1-1 for the home side the 26 th minute. Until this match Napoli had a league high
287 shots, but the indifference in results meant that they kept on losing points.
Udinese looked threatening throughout, and Rodrigo De Paul ran the show from midfield
for Udinese, while Napoli looked susceptible throughout; particularly after Kostas Manolas
was substituted due ti injury by Maksimovic. Both Rrahmani and Maksimovic’s lack of pace
meant Kevin Lasagna and Udinese found themselves clear onto goal often, but failed to
put the ball past Alex Meret. Scoring goals has been the biggest problem for Udinese this
season.
The second half saw Napoli push for the winner, with the goal coming in the 90 th minute.
Walace had conceded a foul just outside the box, and Mario Rui’s floated ball into the box
was neatly placed by a well timed header by Chelsea loanee Tiemoue Bakayoko, assuring
Napoli a much needed win. Udinese,on the other hand will feel they lost a well earned
point and were left with nothing.
Italian media sources reported enraged screams and punches to the walls of Stadio Diego Maradona after Napoli’s inexplicable home loss to lowly Spezia on Wednesday, as their furious coach Gennaro Gattuso apparently unleashed his characteristically fiery temper upon his squad.
Allowing Vincenzo Italiano‘s outsiders to come back from a goal down late on – particularly after the visitors had been reduced to ten men – also led to the former Milan manager questioning the character of his team.
Only failing Parma and Cagliari have won fewer points than both Napoli and Luca Gotti‘s 13th-placed Udinese in the last five rounds, with four and three points respectively since mid-December.
A late equalizer from midfielder Tolgay Arslan rescued Udinese’s most recent point in midweek, as the Zebrette fought back from behind to draw 2-2 with ten-man Bologna.
Udinese vs Napoli Head-to-Head
Napoli has a good record against Udinese and has won 14 matches out of a total of 30 games played between the two sides.
Udinese has managed only six victories against Napoli and will need to take it up a notch in this match.
The previous match between the two teams last year ended in a 2-1 victory for Napoli. Matteo Politano scored an important goal on the day and will want to make his mark on this game.
Udinese form guide in the Serie A: D-L-L-D-D
Napoli form guide in the Serie A: L-W-D-L-L
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