Napoli 2:0 Juventus

Napoli 2:0 Juventus ,  30/03/14 San Paolo, Napoli

Both teams lined up in their usual formations and with expected starting XIs. Juventus were without suspended Tevez so Osvaldo partnered Llorente upfront. Henrique continued on the right as Maggio is still unavailable. Mertens was only on the bench after an ankle injury last week. 

Starting XIs

 

Possession dominance

Napoli played one of their best games this season, while on the other hand,  Juventus had arguably one of the worst and it is hard to remember when they´ve been on a back foot for such a majority of the game.

Napoli dominated the game right from the start and used the possession very well, keeping ball for  long periods and trying to work their way through with short passing. They had 62% of the possession in the first half and Juventus had barely got out of their own half. 

Napoli´s wing play

Higuain repeatedly made runs towards sidelines rather than trying to battle against Juve´s physical centerbacks and help to create some good combination plays on the wings.

In fact, first goal came after a good play down Napoli´s left and a fantastic ball by Insigne. Napoli had couple of good chances in the first ten minutes already and the game remained scoreless mostly thank to good saves by Buffon. 

Juventus problems

Juventus were forced to sit deep right from the start and even when they had the ball, they weren´t able to work it forward effectively and were very disappointing in the final third as Napoli were quick to get back and very organized with two banks of 4 and Hamsik and Higuain in front of them. Juventus were wasteful in the attack and only completed 56% of their passes in the final third. It took 25 minutes to see the first shot on target from Juve.

Second Half

Juve improved slightly in the second half, seeing more of the ball as Napoli looked to play more on the counter. It worked quiet well as they managed to create dangerous situations on the break. They kept their shape well throughout the second half too, and Juventus couldn´t really find a way to create a clear chance to score.

Napoli defended well and always looked to counter as Juve pushed higher up the pitch.  Hamsik went through on goal after good ball from Pandev before Mertens killed the game after being on the pitch for only 3 minutes.  The goal was scored only seconds after Juve´s corner as only a long throw by Reina and a long ball from Pandev were needed to get the ball on the other sides of the pitch. Still, Mertens had a lot to do, but managed to control the ball and hit the ball into the bottom corner brilliantly.

Subs

Antonio Conte hasn´t tried to change the game from tactical point and his substitutions were strait swops. However, all three players, Marchisio, Isla and Vucinic got into dangerous positions. Isla received the ball behind the defence on the right side twice, at first he miscontroled the ball and the chance was lost, second time he sent a poor cross into Reina´s hands. Vucinic had a shot just wide from outside the box and Marchisio almost got on the end of a long ball into the area.

Benitez has done the same with first two subs, bringing on Pandev for Higuain and Mertens for Hamsik. The duo combined for a second goal and Mertens was close to his second after a good run down the left by Insigne. Dzemaili came on late for Callejon to strengthen the midfield after second goal.

Conclusion

It was a comfortable win for Napoli as Juventus never got into a clear chance and only managed two shots on target in the whole game and Reina was never tested properly.  Without Tevez in the team, Juve missed his work rate; link up play and great understanding with Llorente they are enjoying throughout the season.  Pirlo was also relatively quiet. Hamsik was marking him most of the time, but even if he left him space, Pirlo didn´t have his usual impact, mostly because there wasn´t much room for the wingbacks to whom he likes to play long diagonal passes. Bonucci, the other long passer in the Juve´s team, hasn´t done too much either as there simply wasn´t a space too play those long balls to wing backs. 

The result will not probably have too much effect on the table, but it gives Napoli a hope they can overcome Roma for second place while being 12 points ahead of Fiorentina now.