Even though suffering a little more than expected, Napoli booked their place into the Coppa Italia Quarter Finals after beating Serie B side Empoli 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon. The Partenopei will now face the winner of tomorrow’s match between Roma and Spezia.
The Round of 16 game was anything but a stroll in the park for Gennaro Gattuso’s side, who saw their lead cancelled twice by Swiss midfielder Nedim Bajrami before eventually wrapping their win with Andrea Petagna.
Gattuso recovered Kalidou Koulibaly after a few weeks and deployed him next to Amir Rrhamani in the middle of the defense. Stanislav Lobotka and Diego Demme played in a double pivot role, whereas Matteo Politano, Elif Elmas, and Hirving Lozano took place behind lone striker Petagna.
Napoli drew first blood on 18 minutes with a fine Giovanni Di Lorenzo header from a Lozano cross. But Empoli reacted fast and, after hitting the crossbar with Ryder Matos, found their equalizer as Bajrami found the right spot with a clinical shot from the edge of the box.
The balance lasted only five minutes, however, as before the half time break Napoli were in the lead again thanks a Lozano right-foot shot.
On 68 minutes, Empoli and Bajrami had their second as the Swiss midfielder caught Alex Meret by surprise with another right-foot shot from outside of the box.
Napoli continued to attack but Lorenzo Insigne – who replaced Politano around the one-hour mark – wasted a favorable chance to get the job done for the Partenopei. And so, it was up to Andrea Petagna to save the day, as he finally pushed the ball in the back of Empoli’s net at the end of an extended exchange into the visitors’ area.
It ended 3-2 for Napoli, but Empoli – one of the only two Serie B clubs still running the Coppa Italia – left the pitch with their heads held well high.
MATCH REPORT
January 12, 2021 – Coppa Italia 2020-21 Round of 16
NAPOLI-EMPOLI 3-2
SCORERS: 18′ Di Lorenzo (N), 33′ Bajrami (E), 38′ Lozano (N), 68′ Bajrami (E), 76′ Petagna (N)
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NAPOLI (4-3-2-1): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Demme (88′ Bakayoko), Lobotka (69′ Zielinski); Politano (61′ Insigne), Elmas (69′ Fabian Ruiz), Lozano; Petagna (88′ Llorente) (Ospina, Contini, Cioffi, Hysaj, Maksimovic, Mertens) Coach: Gattuso |
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EMPOLI (4-3-1-2): Furlan; Zappella, Viti, Casale, Terzic (85′ Asllani); Ricci, Damiani, Haas (61′ Cambiaso); Bajrami (85′ Baldanzi); Olivieri (72′ La Mantia), Matos (62′ Moreo) (Brignoli, Fiamozzi, Nikolaou, Parisi, Pratelli, Romagnoli, Stulac) Coach: Cozzi (replacing Dionisi) |
REFEREE: Mr. Giua from Olbia
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Olivieri (E)