PLAYER RATINGS | Napoli 0-1 Lazio

327 days after the last time, Napoli have lost a game at home in Serie A and the twist of fate is that the defeat came by the hand of former coach Maurizio Sarri.

It was a surprising defeat for Napoli as Lazio snatch a 1-0 win away at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, thanks to Matias Vecino’s goal.

It is just the second loss in the league for Luciano Spalletti’s side, the first one at home, but they still sit comfortably at the top of the league. In the worst case scenario, on Sunday night they’ll have a 15 points lead with 13 games left.

The Scudetto is not in discussion but for once Napoli have not been the best on the pitch.

Lazio simply outplayed the Partenopei, clogging up all the passing lines and alternating moments in which they pressed high in the pitch to others where they sat low just to counter attack when they got back the ball.

Maurizio Sarri caught everybody by surprise as he picked Matias Vecino over Danilo Cataldi but his decision turned out to be a key one as the Uruguayan, with a little more than 20 minutes to play, fired an half-volley from long distance that flew in the bottom corner.

This is the first goal conceded by Napoli since the game against Roma on January 29th marking the end of four-game streak of clean sheets.

The streak is over for Victor Osimhen too as he failed to score after having found the net in the eight previous Serie A matches. There was a bit of bad luck for the Nigerian as his header in the dying minutes of the match hit the crossbar.

Thanks to this win, Lazio now sit momentarily on second place, four points over the fifth place. 

Player ratings

Napoli (4-3-3): Meret (6); Di Lorenzo (5,5), Rrahmani (5,5), Kim (5,5), Olivera (5); Zambo Anguissa (5,5), Lobotka (5,5), Zielinski (5,5); Lozano (5), Osimhen (6), Kvaratskhelia (5,5).

Substitutes: Elmas (6), Politano (6), Simeone (-), Ndombele (-), Zedadka (-).

Lazio 4-3-3): Provedel (6,5); Marusic (6,5), Patric (7), Romagnoli (6,5), Hysaj (7); Milinkovic-Savic (7), Vecino (7), Luis Alberto (7); Felipe Anderson (5,5), Immobile (6), Zaccagni (6,5).

Substitutes: Pedro (6), Cancellieri (6), Cataldi (-).

Andrea Agostinelli | GIFN