Lazio inflict Napoli their first Serie A defeat of the season
Having begun their respective campaigns contrastingly, an undefeated Napoli welcomed a winless Lazio outfit to their intimidating cauldron and immediately threatened with successive attempts.
The Partenopei, looking as sharp as ever with Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia up front, almost grabbed the lead midway through the half via a piledriver of an effort from the latter, only to see Ivan Provedel pull off a brilliant save.
Perhaps inspired by their goalkeeper’s timely reflexes, Lazio took the lead moments later with their first shot on target, as Luis Alberto executed a world-class backheel from close range to break the deadlock against the run of play.
Their advantage didn’t last long, though, as fortune favoured the hosts less than two minutes later.
Sizing up an opening, Piotr Zielinski struck from outside the area and saw his drive take a wild deflection off Alessio Romagnoli on its way into the bottom corner.
That was Napoli’s first open-play home league goal before the hour mark since mid-February, an effort that left an end-to-end encounter hanging in the balance at the break.
The Biancocelesti, though, responded clinically seven minutes into the second half, hurting Napoli with a well-executed counterattack at the end of which newcomer Daichi Kamada drove a low effort into the far corner for Lazio to retake the lead.
Shortly after, the visitors were left fuming as two goals were disallowed due to offside, the second of which was a controversial decision from referee Andrea Colombo, who considered Mattia Zaccagni’s soft obstruction as an infringement.
Rudi Garcia’s Napoli attempted to turn the tide in the final 15 minutes, but the visitors held strong to collect consecutive victories in Naples for the first time since 1937.
Back-to-back defeats to relegation contenders Lecce and Genoa could have upset morale in the Lazio camp, but Maurizio Sarri’s outfit proved they are still a force to be reckoned with - their credentials will face a further test when they face Juventus after the international break.
Meanwhile, Napoli will hope to learn from their shortcomings following a first defeat this season and get back to winning ways when they travel to Genoa next.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Danilo Cataldi (Lazio)
