China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Napoli suffers first domestic defeat as Serie A resumes
ROME — Napoli probably wishes Serie A never stopped. That its rhythm wasn’t broken. That its rivals weren’t given time to catch up to its high-paced play.
The southern club was handed its first domestic defeat of the season on Wednesday as the Italian league resumed after a 7-and-a-half week break for the World Cup and end-ofthe-year holidays.
Edin Dzeko scored near the hour mark, goalkeeper Andre Onana made a big save in the 90th and Inter Milan beat Napoli 1-0 at the San Siro to reopen the race for the Serie A title.
“It’s a big achievement beating Napoli,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said. “It should give us a huge amount of motivation.”
The only other time Napoli lost this season was against Liverpool in the Champions League on Nov 1 — a result that still enabled the Partenopei to win their group.
All of Napoli’s closest challengers won.
Defending champion AC Milan pulled to within five points by beating Salernitana 2-1, Juventus moved within seven points by beating Cremonese 1-0 for its seventh straight win, and 2021 champion Inter is now eight points back in fourth.
It’s not a good sign for Napoli with two more key matches coming up this month against Juventus and Roma.
With Napoli forwards Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen unable to make an impact, Inter went ahead when Dzeko headed in a perfect cross from Federico Dimarco.
Onana then stopped a missile of a shot from Giacomo Raspadori to preserve the advantage.
Whereas it was the dribbling wizard Kvaratskhelia who put on a show nearly every week before the break, this time it was Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella, whose creative back-heel flick sent Romelu Lukaku in on goal only for the Belgium striker to narrowly miss his shot just over the bar.
“We weren’t able to move the ball around with the same quality as usual,” Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti said. “Several players weren’t up to form.”
Simone Inzaghi’s side sits fourth and are back in the discussion for the Scudetto after its third straight league win, one which puts some pressure on a Napoli team who threatened to run away with the league before the World Cup.
“I am 36 but I want to keep playing at the highest level and the only
way to achieve that is with hard work,” Dzeko told DAZN.
“I’ll keep going as long as make the difference.”
Ochoa’s debut
I can
Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa made a Serie A debut to remember for Salernitana.
Even if it wasn’t enough to prevent defending champion Milan from winning.
Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali scored one goal and set up another for Rafael Leao over a five-minute stretch early on, while Federico Bonazzoli pulled one back late for Salernitana.
Otherwise, it was almost all about the 37-year-old Ochoa, who denied Milan on chance after chance to follow up a strong performance for Mexico at his fifth World Cup.
Ochoa set the tone at the start when he stuck his left boot out to stop a shot from Leao in a 1-on-1 situation and also later made a quickreflex save on Milan forward Olivier Giroud, who was back in action 17 days after playing for France in the World Cup final.
Ochoa could only do so much, though, when Tonali’s through ball set Leao in on goal again and the Portugal international dribbled wide around the goalkeeper before depositing the ball into an empty net from a sharp angle.
Ochoa did stop Tonali five minutes later but the Milan player then got another opportunity when the defense failed to clear and hit the target with a powerful shot.
In all, Ochoa made nine saves, while Milan counterpart Ciprian Tatarusanu made none.
“Ochoa showed what people say about him: that he’s a player with personality, so a big acquisition,” Salernitana coach Davide Nicola said.
Juventus streak
Arkadiusz Milik scored with a free kick in stoppage time and scandalridden Juventus won 1-0 at Cremonese for its seventh consecutive clean sheet.
But it was far from easy for the Bianconeri as Cremonese hit the woodwork twice and Juventus had trouble getting past goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi, who was superb.
Juventus was rocked by scandal during the break when the club’s board of directors resigned en masse and the Turin prosecutor’s office requested indictments amid allegations of false accounting.