Napoli came out on top of a nerve-shredding Serie A fixture against newly-promoted Venezia on Sunday night. Luciano Spalletti marked his managerial debut at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona with a 2-0 victory, but it took his side a lot of suffering to overcome the stubborn visitors.
After falling one point short of Juventus in a nail-biting season final back in 2020/21, Napoli were desperate to paint the beginning of the new league campaign with winning colors. Although Venezia’s visit to Naples on the opening weekend seemed like another day in the office for the Partenopei at first glance, it turned out to be quite different.
Napoli took control of the match early on, with Lorenzo Insigne, Matteo Politano, and Victor Osimhen creating all sorts of problems for Venezia’s backline inside the opening 20 minutes of play. After wasting several decent opportunities to break the deadlock, the hosts’ hopes of a flying start suffered a massive blow as the Nigerian forward received a silly red card.
Osimhen, who was seemingly frustrated by squandering a couple of chances, slapped his marker in the face to earn marching orders from referee Gianluca Aureliano in the 23rd minute. The striker’s expulsion changed the landscape of the first half, allowing the defensive-minded visitors plenty of breathing room in the remainder of the half.
However, despite being a man down, Napoli never gave up the idea of breaking down the side that last competed in Serie A 20 years ago. Unrelenting attacks down the flanks paid off in the 57th minute as Mario Rui’s cross took a deflection from Pietro Ceccaroni’s hand, resulting in a penalty.
Insigne, who looked eager to prove himself to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona faithful amid speculations about his potential departure, executed a disastrous penalty, sending the ball well over the bar. In a hectic five-minute span, the 30-year-old got another chance to open Napoli’s account for the season.
Another handball inside the box brought Insigne back to the spot, though the Euro 2020 winner made no mistake from his second attempt. The opening goal made Napoli’s life a lot easier, forcing Venezia to go out and chase the result. Forced to go higher up the field, Paolo Zanetti’s men left plenty of space behind, and Napoli knew how to take advantage of that.
First-half substitute Elif Elmas found the back of the net in the 73rd minute with a well-driven low effort to put the game beyond question. Although Venezia created several glorious opportunities to reduce the deficit, Napoli managed to keep a clean sheet and register an all-important opening day triumph.