After a pair of winless games, Napoli had fallen from the top of the Serie A tree into fourth spot and were in desperate need to get back to winning ways. That didn’t particularly prove a great incentive in the opening stages here, as they struggled to gain any kind of momentum, although they were doing a good enough job of stifling Roma.
Such were the struggles Napoli were facing, the only real sighting they had of goal came when Scott McTominay’s cross-shot needed beating away, with the majority of the first half being a non-event.
In truth, the opening stages of the second period weren’t much better, but within 10 minutes of the restart, the game eventually sprung to life. Romelu Lukaku dominated most of the pre-match headlines as he was in line to face his former employers, and true to form, it was he who had the first say.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo did the heavy lifting in the build-up, controlling sensationally and firing a cross across the six-yard line which afforded Lukaku the simplest task of tapping home.
Roma’s response was impressive, as they forced Napoli to retreat after they opened the scoring, but it was going to take something special to get back into the game on Claudio Ranieri’s third managerial debut at Roma.
Artem Dovbyk so nearly found it when he powered a header against the crossbar as they started to build up a head of steam in the final third. That was about the only clear-cut chance they created throughout, and for a Roma side who hadn’t scored an away goal after the 70th minute this season, a late leveller always seemed unlikely.
It proved to be that way too, as Roma slumped to a 10th successive winless away league outing – a run which certainly explains why they’re getting sucked near to the relegation zone. As for Napoli, they return to the Serie A summit thanks to a sixth win from seven home league games this season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Giovanni Di Lorenzo (SSC Napoli)