The first big game of the Serie A weekend pitted Thiago Motta’s Juventus against a resurgent Napoli who have left behind their poor start to the season. However their little winning run came to an end as we suffer another stalemate at the Allianz.
In years gone by this game would decide title races and with new managers in both dugouts both sets of supporters are aiming high for the season.
Each team set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation and as a result they mostly cancelled each other out for the first half.
Dreary First Half
Juventus started with the lion’s share of posession early on but could not break through the lines of a Napoli side content to settle into the game slowly.
It took almost half an hour for us to get an attempt on target. Scott McTominay had been doing a good job in midfield for Napoli, finding pockets of space to exploit.
He struck a full blooded shot at Michele Di Gregorio from well over 20 metres out, the pace causing the goalie issues and he was fortunate Romelu Lukaku couldn’t put away the rebound.
The majority of Napoli’s joy was coming on the right hand side with Matteo Politano seeing plenty of the ball and doing his best to make something happen. On one occasion his cross to Kvicha Kvaratskhelia was cut out in the nick of time.
As the game opened slightly Dusan Vlahovic was presented with a pair of chances after the 30 minute mark but he could steer neither of his headers goalwards.
Alex Meret was suffering from a physical problem for Napoli and in the 36th minute Antonio Conte moved to replace him with Elia Caprile.
The biggest chance of the half came in injury time when Di Gregorio just about parried away Politano’s free kick.
It was going to take a moment of brilliance to break the deadlock.
Juventus Player Ratings vs Napoli: Bremer Shuts Down Lukaku
Second Half
Unfortunately for any neutrals watching the second half followed the same template.
Kenan Yildiz tried a shot from distance but it landed straight in the hands of Caprile.
Politano was having a good evening in attack and when he drifted inside from the right on 55 minutes it looked like he would get his reward. Instead his shot flew over the bar.
Back-pass Controversy
The biggest controversy of the evening came in the 57th minute. Mathias Olivera stopped a cross that was fired at him and Caprile dived on the ball immediately. Referee Daniele Doveri saw nothing wrong but the Allianz stadium erupted in anger claiming a Back-pass.
That was the loudest they got as the chances weren’t exactly flowing. A handful of shots off target from Teun Koopmeiners, Yildiz and Andrea Cambiaso was as exciting as it got.
Another Stalemate at the Allianz
All credit to the Bianconeri defence, Lukaku was shut out of the game completely. Conte moved to remedy this by replacing his entire front three with under twenty minutes to go. David Neres, Giovanni Simeone and Michael Folorunsho had little impact against a watertight back four.
A back four that have still not conceded a league goal yet but have stuttered to their third 0-0 in a row. The ghost of Allegri still seems to haunt the Bianconeri with just one shot on target all game.
Napoli’s little winning run comes to an end as we suffer through another stalemate at the Allianz.