Napoli 4-3 Lazio: Cavani wins amazing game
The starting line-ups
Edinson Cavani scored another hattrick as Napoli battled back from 0-2 and 2-3 down to win.
Walter Mazzarri chose his usual first choice XI for this season, with one exception – Hassan Yebda continued in place of Walter Gargano in the centre of midfield.
Eddy Reja, returning to his former club, surprisingly left out Hernanes and switched to a 4-2-3-1 system.
Despite developing into an astonishing contest, the game actually started quite slowly. Both ‘double pivots’ in the centre of midfield were allowed time on the ball, but tended to pass the ball from side to side, rather than playing it forward, and the match was quite static.
Game takes off
The sides started to get amongst each other as the first half went on, particularly when Yebda moved higher up the pitch and put more pressure upon the two deep Lazio midfielders. This created space in behind, however, and Stefano Mauri was the main beneficiary. He was the key man in a ten-minute spell in the middle of the opening period, scoring the first goal and coming close to another by finding space in an inside-right position, pushing up to connect with Mauro Zarate. Lazio often looked like a 4-2-4 in the attacking phase of play.
Napoli were poor in the first half, creating few goalscoring opportunities. Marek Hamsik was the pick of the front three – he cleverly found space on the edge of the penalty area, but was unable to link up with the other two forwards frequently. With Lazio playing a highish line, Napoli’s best chances came when Christian Maggio and Andrea Dossena made long diagonal runs from the wings to get on the end of balls over the top, and Lazio’s full-backs didn’t look comfortable against that pace.
It was surprising that Napoli struggled in the centre of midfield, and they often appeared outnumbered when they had the ball. Usually, when they play against a side with one man upfront, they push Hugo Campagnaro forward slightly, almost as an additional right-sided central midfield. That didn’t happen here, however, because Giuseppe Sculli remained advanced on the left-hand side, well ahead of Alvaro Gonzalez on the right. Yebda had a decent game, but Napoli perhaps missed the authority on the ball offered by Gargano.
Second half
The second half was a crazy contest featuring a red card, a penalty, an own goal, a ‘was it over the line?’ controversy, a last-minute winner, a hattrick, a couple of fights and, in total, six goals. It’s also worth considering that none of the goals resulted from good football or clever build-up play – Lazio’s second half goals came from a set piece and an own goal, whilst Napoli scored from two set-pieces, a penalty, and then after a simple, long hoof downfield from their goalkeeper. It wasn’t technically proficient, but it was extremely exciting – although everything happened in such a frantic fashion, that it’s very difficult to analyse in chronological order. Here then, are some general points from the second half:
First, both sides (particularly Lazio) defended free-kicks abysmally. The marking was atrocious at both ends, and Lazio managed to make life particularly difficult for themselves by helping the ball into dangerous areas – the free-kicks for Napoli’s first and second goals were both flicked on by Lazio players at the near post. They also both found a wing-back unmarked at the far post – the first occasion he headed in himself, the second time he nodded across for Cavani.
Second, Mazzarri used his substitutions very well. He gradually increased his attacking threat – first inserting Giuseppe Mascara to be a ‘runner’ from midfield, and then when Lazio went down to ten men, he threw on Cristiano Lucarelli to provide a focal point for the attacks when Morgan de Sanctis wanted to kick the ball long – this worked well for the winner. In between, he also introduced Gargano, which added guile to the midfield zone.
Third, Lazio were guilty of sitting far too deep. Having started the game with the highish line that Napoli were seemingly only able to exploit sporadically through their wing-backs, they ended up playing with almost the entire side in their own third of the pitch. For a while, Napoli struggled to break through and sat too deep themselves, but considering how badly Lazio defended set-pieces, it was suicidal to allow crosses into a congested penalty area.
Four, Mazzarri ended up with something like a 4-1-1-4 system, similar to the shape Jose Mourinho used on the rare occasions his Inter side were desperate for a goal late on in games. It worked well here – providing a solid defensive base (even though Napoli had started with a back three) and five clear attacking threats, plus one man, Gargano, to break up play and distribute the ball forward.
Conclusion
Arguably the game of the season so far. At 0-2, it appeared Reja had got the better of the tactical battle, but Lazio’s poor defending at set-pieces allowed Napoli back into the game, and from then the momentum and confidence was with the home side. The second half was scrappy, and whilst Napoli didn’t play particularly well at time, they took their chances excellently – only a poor finish from Mascara is memorable as a wasted chance.
Cavani further strengthened his claim to be regarded as the best player in Serie A this season, and unquestionably the most astute signing.
Napoli 4-3 Lazio: Cavani wins amazing game
three questions:
1) is Napoli able to fight till the last matchday for the scudetto?
2) Can Edison Cavani play good football in England?
2) Is this Lazio going to win 4th place or Udineze will finish on top?
1) Looking at the upcoming games, don’t think so.
2) Lol. Of course. I remind you some people questioned whether Suarez could play in England.
3) Udinese is much more solid than Lazio.
“1) Looking at the upcoming games, don’t think so.”
~ Don’t really understand this seeing as their remaining 7 aren’t THAT tough. Sure they play Inter, but it’s at home. They play Juventus, but they’re not the Juventus of old and they easily beat them earlier this season(Napoli’s system is most effective against a 4-4-2 system like Juve’s). Other than that, there’s Udinese. An interesting battle, but a match I’d expect them to win. They could easily finish the last 7 matches 5-1-1.
I understand the doubts about Napoli being a serious title contender, especially considering their record against the top-clubs…. but comparing the rosters, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Good attack, suspect defense. I think Mazzarri must be given lots credit for taking a side with such “suspect” and bringing them to this point only 2 points out of 1st place. The “good attack” is with quality but not world-class players. Mazzarri has found a way to get 3 good players (Hamsik, Lavezzi, and Cavani) to play great with each other. They compliment each other… and having a player as hot as Cavani never hurts. The “suspect” defense(looking at the personnel) has put together one of the best defensive records in the league.
You can’t but look at the coach…. in my opinion.
Such an amusing second question…It is akin to asking would Rooney “play good football in Italy/Spain”. Is playing in England somehow the pinnacle of a professional player’s football career and the standard by which he is judged? I disagree.
Its more a question of compatibility than ’standard’ or ‘quality’ I think? You could argue that few if any teams in the EPL play smilarly to Napoli, not to mention the contrasting approaches and different ‘feel’ of EPL and Serie A (again, quality/standard aside).
I can’t say I’ve seen enough of Cavani to even guess at an answer though…
Of course..
Which league is right now the most challenging, the most unpredictable and difficult for many players to adjust?
Serie A seems behind the other major leagues, and La Liga has a huge gap between Barca,Madrid and the other teams..
The difference is obvious.. (Tottenham (5th) versus Milan(1st) in the CL)
And try t remind me players jumping from Italy to England successfully the last 5 years…
The other way round of course is different, and Rooney naturally can play in Italy and spain, especially Italy..
True, I think (although debatable) that EPL is of a higher absolute standard than Serie A these days – but an individual player’s qualities in a certain setting/system is relative still…
What would you see as Cavani’s primary strengths/characteristics? Would they be expressed differently in the EPL/a different system?
I’d draw on an example of Torres – as a result of either system or self, you could say that his style of play changed slightly in the EPL… During his Atleti days, he was more likely to take players on by dribbling and drifting out wide to create/participate in interplay with other attackers… Since his Liverpool move, physical characteristics (through specific focus/development or otherwise) seem to have come more to the fore and he seems more like a traditional/hard-working/intense ’spearhead’?
@ T.N.T.
That’s not really fair is it? A number of Milan’s buys were cup-tied and are only available in the league. Also, it wasn’t as if they were destroyed by Spurs, it was only by one goal and Milan could have won the tie if Gomes wasn’t having the game of his life in the first leg, or if Spurs didn’t have just that bit of luck in the second.
I don’t also think that the EPL is more ‘physical’ a la Stoke either, look at the Milan – Inter derby, that was ridiculously ‘violent’ as well.
There hasn’t been much transfers between the two leagues either. I would expect an Italian to do better in his own league, just as an Englishman would do better in his own league, so it isn’t exactly fair to say that an Italian player who was great in Serie A but flopping in the EPL to mean that Serie A is that much weaker. On the other hand, Flamini, a Frenchman, who did well at Arsenal is really only average at Milan.
Or conversely, Van Bommel, who seems to have slotted in perfectly.
Brocchi’s goal was definitely over the line, him going forward was also the result of Pazienza being withdrawn in favour of Mascara, so not all goals in the 2nd half were down to “luck”.
And Cavani clearly dived for the penalty, the sending off for that was just ridiculous.
Overall, this season have had some brilliant games:
Newcastle 4 – 4 Arsenal
Milan 4 – 4 Udinese
Napoli 4 – 3 Lazio
Inter 5 – 3 Roma
Netherlands 5 – 3 Hungary
I just love football!
The problem with Cavani moving anywhere is surely the hugely inflated price tag (30 mil plus???), added onto the complications in Italy of being part owned by various clubs. Doubtless he’s a good goalscorer, but his record this year in serie A against very poor defences perhaps flatters him. He’s still young, but could well be another Forlan if he moves to England.
Defences in England are pretty poor sometimes, look at West Ham for example!