Napoli 1 – 3 Juventus
Pogba 29 (J), Britos 64 (N), Caceres 69 (J), Vidal 94 (J)
Serie A – Week 18 [Sunday, 11th January – 19:45 GMT] – Stadio San Paolo
For most of this match it seemed Juve’s recent mild form may continue. 25 minutes in and while neither side was taking control, Juventus were hardly very inspiring. Then around the half hour mark a bit of magic happened: Paul Pogba remembered he was playing versus Napoli and scored a Pogboom. It wasn’t exactly indicative of Juve’s team play. But nonetheless the burst of brilliance had put Juve ahead.
Really though this was a sloppy game. Juve went through long stretches of poor passing, which surprisingly didn’t hurt them too badly. Juventus seemed to lack a cutting edge, as they had in recent draws versus Inter and Sampdoria. Napoli weren’t so great either, but they did enough to keep themselves in the game.
The second half whistle didn’t offer much of a change either, at least not at first. But then at the hour mark, Dries Mertens was subbed on for Marek Hamsik. Hamsik had been getting into space throughout the match but he was really failing to capitalize on each occasion. Mertens immediately made an impact, as his corner kick found Miguel Britos in Juve’s box. Britos slid the ball past Gianluigi Buffon and Napoli equalized. It seemed that this game would end like the derby d’Italia, or even the SuperCoppa.
Instead Juventus answered back five minutes later. Andrea Pirlo took a free kick, and Martin Caceres was free and scored once the ball was sent into the box. There is some dispute as to whether or not Caceres was offside, and it being Juve who scored, the screenshots of the goal will be heavily analyzed. Either way, it was a nice moment for Caceres’ return to the squad. Martin has a bit of a knack for scoring important goals, or at least goals in games where he returns from an absence. With Stephan Lichtsteiner’s attacking influence missed today, it was important for Caceres to make an impact offensively, even if it was via a set piece.
Of course, moments later Lichtsteiner came on for Caceres, and Juventus switched to a 3-5-2. While not very exciting, it probably preserved their 2-1 lead.
That was one controversial play, another came when Napoli had a scoring chance. Kalidou Koulibaly was near Gianluigi Buffon in the box, and the ball was sent in their general area. Buffon and Martin Caceres possibly bumped as Buffon jumped and came down with the ball. Towards the end of his fall, Buffon and Koulibaly bumped, and Koulibaly lightly rammed him – and used a bit of hands on Buffon’s jersey – as Buffon lost the ball. Koulibaly then finished the point blank opportunity but the goal was quickly called off for the foul. While some fans are complaining, the fact of the matter is that in the modern game the goalkeepers owns his box, and I can’t see how Koulibaly’s actions wouldn’t have been called a foul on any goal keeper.
Gonzalo Higuain and Duvan Zapata also had dangerously close scoring chances for Napoli later in the game. Higuain seemed set for a goal until his final effort was a bit too right. It was a very odd mistake from the otherwise class striker. Finally, with moments left in the game, Zapata had a bit of a dangerous break away and managed to outpace Juve’s centerbacks. Buffon came off his line and met Zapata just outside the 18 yard box, and Zapata went down. He was given a yellow card for simulation, and that was that.
Two minutes after that Arturo Vidal wrapped the game up. Napoli were attacking Juventus, desperate to tie the game. This resulted in a rare counter attack for Juventus, led by Alvaro Morata, Carlos Tevez, and Vidal. Morata took the ball through Napoli’s half on the left flank, and he crossed to Vidal who was a bit out of the 18 yard box. Vidal dribbled a bit and got a more central angle, and took his shot just before entering the box. There was nothing Rafael could do to stop it, and with a 3-1 scoreline the game was clinched.
After a bit of a disappointing run Juventus seem to be back on track. A 3-1 win versus Napoli is nice, especially to avenge the SuperCoppa. Plus, with Roma drawing in the Rome derby earlier that means Juventus are three points ahead of Roma in the Scudetto race. Juve face Verona twice in their next two games, once in Coppa Italia and once in Serie A. 2015 started with two intense games, but Juventus fared pretty well and now go into a relatively easier portion of their fixture list.
Statistics
Man of the Match: Arturo Vidal
Flop of the Match: Fernando Llorente
Fouls: 12
Corners: 2
Pass Accuracy: 80%
Shots on Target: 5
Total Shots: 8
Ball Possession: 52%
Formation: 4-3-1-2
Formation:
Lineups:
Napoli: Rafael; Maggio, Albiol, Koulibaly, Britos; David Lopez, Gargano (Duvan Zapata 83); Callejon (Gabbiadini 72), Hamsik (Mertens 60), De Guzman; Higuain
Juventus: Buffon; Caceres (Ogbonna 79), Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Marchisio, Pirlo, Pogba (Lichtsteiner 70); Vidal; Tevez, Llorente (Morata 74)
Ref: Tagliavento
Player Ratings:
Video Highlights:
Poll:
First 🙂 What a win. Deserved and well thought out. Allegri out thought Rafa at every turn – Napoli used a battering ram, we had Chiellini behind the door.
First win in Naples for 14 years. Another stat for Allegri haters
VENDETTA
This from Allegri was pure class tonight : Max Allegri was open and candid following Juve’s victory in Naples, declaring ‘Nobody accepts defeat or decisions’ in Italian football.
This from benitez was not : “Sorry Roma, but I realised Juventus will win the Scudetto.”
Cant say hes wrong tho: p
Sour grapes eh
Haha I’m really enjoying the butthurt from Napoli here, whenever they lose to us it’s a huge drama for them
Caceres back and what follows, he scores and we end the Napoli hoodoo!
@Marc lol
Haha I wasn’t saying that to tease Marc, it’s just something I noticed, if he scores it’s against the big teams, remember his goals against Inter when he rejoined us? Good shit
Vidal is getting into shape, good times are coming 🙂
A guy like Vidal is crucial to our champions league hopes .. he can be a game changer when he’s on.
Rumours today :
Jovetic – https://www.juvefc.com/stevan-jovetic-juventus-target/
Mkhitaryan – https://www.juvefc.com/henrikh-mkhitaryan-suitable-juventus/
Looks like I’m the new one here, great website 🙂
We crushed them, Vidal with the great match 🙂
It’s busier on match days 😉 It was a great game for us. we worked hard for that win.
Thanks for the praise as well ! 😉
We had lots of critics on us last week and we reacted like true champions.
Praise is well deserved. 🙂
first win there in 14 years – Huge boost for the boys, thankfully the next 3 games are all at home !
WELCOME
Oh you’re new, welcome to the site dude!
Welcome 🙂
welcome!
i hope allegri starts coman and morata on thursday. i wanna see a 4-3-3 with coman-morata-gio trident but i don’t think it’s gonna happen. still, a 4-3-1-2 with coman as trequartista would be nice
Huge rotation expected – Morata, coman, Padoin, Ogbonna etc. Much needed rest for the regulars and a chance for us to see something new. Looking forward to it
love to see Coman on that spot, but I reckon Pereyra will have his go again
pretty sure those players will start, maybe not Gio with his contract situation but hard to say how much that weighs in. I hope we’ll get a lot of youngsters out, Matiello could start for me. Marrone too if he ever gets fit
I see no one is following the Balon d’oro ceremonials… rightfully so. Luiz named in fifas world 11 haha. Even in Chiellinis current form, id pick him over Luiz. I dont understand the logic behind this decision, but then again, fifa have had their heads lodged straight up their butts for quite a while now.
But im glad cr7 was picked ahead of messi.
luiz, silva, and iniesta were a complete joke. iniesta went out in the group stage of the world cup, qf in CL, didn’t win la liga or even the copa del rey. yet apparently, winning absolutely nothing is enough to get on the fifa toty. what a joke
Comedy at it’s best. All based on who you know and lots of PR – Nothing to do with football. they want nice shiny polished players in expensive leagues. Forget the fact that we won every home game and had the best defence.
I followed it on Twitter – My thoughts ? CR7 won it because he was touched by god:
Well, can’t beat that eh! He’s spreading the love, good old Alex
Also think it’s a farce when David Lulz is in the World XI when Leo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini broke records together while we didn;t lose a game at home and broke the points tally. Those ceremonies are a wankfest for La Liga and BuLi these days
I agree with you, this whole thing is a circus, but I would like to point out, that even if Bonucci and Chiellini were the best duo last year, players would be ranked sole. These player awards are the stupidest thing because football is a team sport.
just because it’s a team sport doesn’t mean these types of awards shouldn’t be given … that’s ridiculous to say.
Having said that, David Luiz being on that list is an abomination.
The thing is, these awards are based on personal opinions, not some measurable statistics. Therefore, if you could convince enough players to name Padoin as the best goalkeeper, he would be there.
Players like Pogba, Pirlo, Vidal, Chiellini, Buffon, Tevez should at least be mentioned, some of these are pretty much top notch in their roles, it’s a complete joke
I really don’t give a shit about the Ballon d’or or the FIFA XI or whatever they come up with, it has nothing to do with skills or talent or form, it’s a popularity contest. If you’re not English, Spanish or German, you’re not eligible
It’s retarded. It has nothing to do with what they did on the field, only political shit. The only thing that matters in football is what you do on the field, awards make no one better.
Leonardo Bonucci is a legend – Know why ? He was asked by a journalist in Naples after the game:
Q: ‘Is it a different tune in Europe for Juventus without the refereeing mistakes? ‘
Bonucci: ‘No, the difference is we’re in the Champions League and you’re (Napoli) in the Europa League’
vine.co/v/ODM9u37KInd
More Bonucci : “Juventus winning bothers people, when we win it becomes unpleasant. When we finished 7th these controversies didn’t matter.”
Classic Bonucci 😀 great answer, fucking shameless journalists
Umm so apparently we’re also making a bid for balotelli according to goal. Loan with option to buy for 14 mil. Please don’t let this happen
I don;t believe it – I think our attention lies elsewhere. Balo is cup tied and theres no way we’d buy him. Not juve class at all. I hope you and I can both breathe easy Gio !
I can see that Maybe allegri wants him because they were both at Milan, but for the love of maple syrup Jovetic please over this guy
hahaha ! Amen to that – Jojo every day of the week – Balotelli is running out of clubs he can turn to. Could end up like Cassano before you know it
That’s bullshit mate, I don’t believe a word of it. Balo is damaged goods, we don’t go for him and I doubt any big club will
Well worth Reading this : https://www.juvefc.com/pogba-juventus-like-family/
interview with Pogba that someone translated for us.
Love this guy, such a team player
our Gerrard
Seems like we would like to get Jovetic or Mkhitaryan.
Both are fine players in my opinion, JoJo could be an ideal replacement for Carlitos. Mkhitaryan could be the long waited trequartista, and I think he is better for that role than Stevan.
One thing I’m afraid about JoJo is that he’s quite injury prone. When he’s healthy he’s a true force of a player.
I think he’s a better player, having played in the Prem League for a while. Looks a bit more physical than he used to, a bit bulkier. His injuries are always the concern but he’s worth the risk if we can loan him for a while. Phenomenal player on his day
I’d prefer Jojo too, even if it’s only to read angry Viola reactions 😛
But yeah he’s the better option, when fit he can be great
Lichtsteiner has renewed ! https://www.juvefc.com/official-stephan-lichtsteiner-renews-juventus/
this article provides a great tactical analysis on how marchisio and caceres worked together to dominate napoli’s left side.
https://www.licencetoroam.net/martin-caceres-exploits-napolis-left-with-marchisios-help/