After the international break, Napoli took on Atalanta at Stadio San Paolo. To be kind, the opening 70 minutes were a “snooze-fest”. Atalanta were playing the perfect road game; nine guys behind the ball and fill-up the box with men, denying space. In the end, Rafa Benitez brought on Jose Callejon and Marek Hamsik, which changed the game in favour of Napoli. Those two substitutes added creativity and pace to the Napoli attack. Gonzalo Higuain opened the scoring in the 71st minute with a great finish. Callejon added another for Napoli following Luca Cigarini’s red card for Atalanta to make it 2-0.
Good:
Paolo Cannavaro/Raul Albiol: Captain Cannavaro and Albiol seemed to communicate well with each other and played the offside trap quite well (Atalanta forward German Denis was caught offside four times). It was good to see Cannavaro in the line-up, which should be a given until he no longer merits his starting role.
Gonzalo Higuain: He opened the scoring and got his first goal at Stadio San Paolo (second of the season). He also showed his pace and dribbling in the second half when he glided past the defender to have a chance to get his second of the game but was denied by the keeper.
Napoli second goal: The build-up to the second goal (17 passes), Insigne great cut to the middle, the “cheeky” pass by Blerim Dzemaili, which was then finished off by Callejon (who has registered three goals in the same amount of games played), was very nice.
Honorable Mentions: Pepe Reina, Lorenzo Insigne (Second-half performance), Giandomenico Mesto (92% pass completion, 2 tackles, 3 interceptions)
Bad:
Dries Mertens: This was Mertens first start of the Serie A campaign. I do not know if it was his nerves that got the better of him, however his decision making was always one or two secondes too slow, dwelling on the ball and his corner kicks were awful. Mertens needs to forget about this game and move onto the next one.
Goran Pandev: I was expecting more from Pandev considering his form during pre-season. He did not create much. He should have finished better with his opportunity in the first half and should have provided a through ball too but kept his head down and failed to spot the opportunity. Napoli need him to step up especially with Rafa Benitez keen on squad rotation.
Ugly
The actual game: The game as I mentioned above was boring. Atalanta filled-up the box and defended well. Napoli would build up well until the box but lacked the finishing touch in the final third. They would miss passes, deliver bad crosses and fire shots off target (11 shots off target).
Camouflage jersey: For now, in my opinion, the new Napoli jersey worn during this game is not for me. It might grow on me through seeing it more but for the time being this jersey will be posted in the “Ugly” category.
In the end, Napoli came away from the game with three points versus a “provinciali” which is important in the chase for the scudetto. This was the first game of a very busy month of September. Rafa Benitez will be keen on using squad rotation to keep his players fresh.
Napoli’s next fixture will be their first real test of their campaign; in the Champions League (September 18th) versus last year’s finalists Borussia Dortmund (who just enjoyed a 6-2 drubbing win in their domestic league). Napoli fans will then see how their squad will match up against, I believe, the toughest team in the group. Buona Fortuna!
Forza Napoli!
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