Napoli have made quite the turnaround since the opening day. The panic surrounding that loss has been replaced with real belief in the south. The Partenopei have gone on a five game undefeated run and without the distraction of Europe, Antonio Conte hoped to keep this going on Sunday night against Monza.
A dominant first 45 minutes was enough for Conte’s men, coming away with a 2-0 victory as the wingers get the win.
Dominant First 45 from Napoli
Alberto Gilardino’s Monza are winless in Serie A still and their first-half performance showed us why that’s still the case.
In fairness they had the first chance of the evening, Elia Caprile punching away a dangerous cross. There was a lot of turnover in midfield but Napoli soon settled into a rhythm and Monza did very little to disrupt it.
Still working out their opposition Napoli flung crosses into Scott McTominay, who played an advanced role tonight. This low block was not working for Monza as pressure was invited onto them.
Politano Sweeps Home
Eventually, on 22 minutes, Matteo Politano broke the deadlock. He had a run at the Biancorossi defence on the right side of the box. A failed one-two with Romelu Lukaku worked out as a deflection put it back in his path. The Italian winger opened his body and swept his shot underneath Stefano Turati.
Now the wheels on the Partenopei express were in motion as Monza faded almost completely.
Kvicha Kvaratskhelia had a shot blocked minutes later before taking advantage of a mix up ten minutes before half time.
Kvara Makes it Two
Monza fell apart completely when Turati’s misplaced pass went straight to Frank Zambo Anguissa. The ball found it’s way to Scott McTominay who’s shot was blocked and bounced into the path of Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian thought “I’ll have this”, hit a sweet half-volley and doubled his side’s lead.
Any time Monza attempted to come forward errors prevented any creativity. Their first corner coming in first-half injury time a telling sign.
Second Half
Napoli started the second half in the same style as the first. Capitalising on another Monza mix up, Kvaratskhelia played in Lukaku on 53 minutes, the Belgian saw his shot blocked.
From the resulting corner McTominay rose highest and came within inches of bagging his first Serie A goal.
Monza couldn’t continue like this and finally started the engine with half an hour to play. After enjoying a good spell of possession Milan Djuric did his best to beat Caprile with a header but the ‘Keeper was equal to it.
A free kick from Daniel Maldini crept past the post and Carboni’s shot flew over the bar as the visitors asserted themselves into the game.
Wingers Get the Win
Napoli were resilient enough in defence to stop anything that came at them, trying to catch Monza on the break instead. Monza had a series of set pieces but did not convert any, a part of their game you feel they need to improve to be competitive this season.
As the game rolled towards it’s end Napoli broke on a few occasions, David Neres’ snapshot curling just past the post as the 90 minutes elapsed.
Ultimately the quality Napoli showed in the first-half was the difference, Monza’s slow start and unforced errors being their downfall. The low block they used against Inter not as effective versus Napoli tonight.
Overall a comfortable night for the Partenopei who come away with a 2-0 victory as the wingers get the win.