The fireworks seen in the last part of the previous Serie A campaign seem to be a faint memory already as Parma and Napoli staged a dull show in their Serie A 2020-2021 opener at the Ennio Tardini Stadium.
Napoli, however, grabbed the three points thanks to goals by Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne – the “usual suspects” in Gennaro Gattuso’s lineup, where also new signing Victor Osimhen evidenced himself as he set foot on the pitch around the one-hour mark. The Nigerian new signing really changed the face of the Partenopei, who had struggled to create any real chance until then.
The Ennio Tardini opened his doors to a restricted number of fans for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Among those, there was Parma new president, U.S. businessman Kyle Krause, who completed the purchase of the Crociati only two days ago. He must not have been very happy as Parma’s performance was pretty colorless.
Gennaro Gattuso left all his new faces on the bench. It was Hirving Lozano to take place next to Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne on the front line after José Callejon’s departure. Kalidou Koulibaly was still in his place at the back despite transfer rumors linking him to Manchester City. Between the sticks, David Ospina continued to be preferred to Alex Meret by Gattuso.
There were no new starters in coach Fabio Liverani’s Parma either as the Gialloblu have not yet completed any signing in this transfer market session. They did, however, lose Dejan Kulusevski to Juventus – which left quite a gap in the Ducali‘s lineup. The absence of injured Ivorian striker Gervinho didn’t help either.
Napoli’s aggressive start on the right flank suggested the possibility of a nice duel between Hirving Lozano and Parma’s left-back Giuseppe Pezzella, but despite trying to suffocate their opponents with ball possession and quick play, the Partenopei never came to pose any real threat to Maurizio Sepe’s goal in the first half. There were no real scoring chances for the initial 45 minutes.
Right after the restart, Parma’s Juraj Kucka led the charge for the Gialloblu and came up with a right-foot shot from out of the box that crashed above the bar but still was the clearest chance until then. That would be the closest Parma would come to scoring.
In the 60th minute, it was time for Victor Osimhen who came in replacing Diego Demme. The big Nigerian striker quickly put his stamp on Napoli’s opener three minutes later, though not in the way one would expect: From a Hirving Lozano cross, Simone Iacoponi anticipated Osimhen only to see his header clearance pushed back into the net by Dries Mertens. The Belgian thus scored his 94th Serie A goal to give the Partenopei the lead.
Subsequent challenges by Osimhen, Lorenzo Insigne, and Giovanni Di Lorenzo showed that Napoli were now in full control. Their second goal, however, was mostly a consequence of a host of mistakes on Parma’s part. Hirving Lozano intercepted a sloppy defensive pass from Iacoponi and ended his run with a shot on which goalkeeper Sepe should have done better. Lorenzo Insigne pounced on Sepe’s defective save and set the score at 2-0 for the visitors.
The Parma goalie eventually denied substitute Matteo Politano in the 87th minute to prevent Napoli from making it three. A three-goal loss would have been too much for Parma, but coach Fabio Liverani will still have much work to do to give the Crociati his identity and impress his new president.
MATCH REPORT
September 20, 2020 – Serie A 2020-2021 Round 1
PARMA-NAPOLI 0-2
SCORERS: 63′ Mertens, 76′ Insigne
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PARMA (4-3-1-2): Sepe; Darmian, Iacoponi, Bruno Alves, Pezzella; Grassi (89′ Siligardi), Brugman (68′ Dezi), Hernani; Kucka; Inglese (68′ Karamoh), Cornelius (Alastra, Laurini, Dermaku, Ricci, Balogh, Simonetti, Kasa, Sprocati, Adorante) Coach: Liverani |
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NAPOLI (4-3-3): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly, Hysaj; Fabian Ruiz (82′ Elmas), Demme (60′ Osimhen), Zielinski (87′ Lobotka); Lozano (82′ Politano), Mertens (87′ Petagna), Insigne (Meret, Contini, Maksimovic, Mario Rui, Rrhamani, Ghoulam, Luperto) Coach: Gattuso |
REFEREE: Mr. Mariani from Aprilia
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Darmian, Bruno Alves, Pezzella, Kucka (P), Demme (N); Extra Time: 1st Half 0′; 2nd Half 6′: