Napoli defeated struggling Cagliari 2-1 on Saturday thanks to goals from Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, moving their team into the Champions League spots in Serie A.
Napoli’s attacking studs, who provided motivation for the team’s incredible league title victory the previous season, each scored a goal as the defending champions advanced to fourth place.
In the 75th minute, Kvaratskhelia scored the game-winning goal, six minutes after Osimhen’s first goal via header and shortly after Leonardo Pavoletti had tied the score for the opposition.
After their third league home victory of a turbulent season thus far, Walter Mazzarri’s team is two points ahead of fifth-place Roma and Bologna, who square off on Sunday.
Napoli’s title defence appears to be gone already, as they trail Inter Milan by 11 points going into Sunday night’s league leaders’ game at Lazio.
With one point separating them from the relegation zone and Empoli, who play at Torino on Saturday night, Claudio Ranieri’s Cagliari remain in 16th place.
Strong gusts in Naples caused concerns about stadium safety, resulting in a 30-minute delay for the start of the match, which Napoli eventually won.
The Stadio Diego Armando Maradona’s turnstiles were closed for a longer period of time than normal in order to assess the top of the stadium.
No significant injuries were discovered, and although Napoli made an early drive, they were unable to overcome a resilient Cagliari team.
Just before the half-hour mark, Amir Rrahmani scored a goal off the base of the post following several missed half-chances, although Cagliari was still in the game and posing a threat when they attacked.
In the 69th minute, Osimhen scored the first goal of the match, sending a header past Cagliari’s dejected custodian Simone Scuffet.
Three minutes later, Pavoletti scored his fourth goal of the season, sending Cagliari out of the relegation zone, having done so the previous weekend.
However, the home crowd quickly got up for Kvaratskhelia’s winning goal, which came after an excellent display of hold-up play by Osimhen allowed the Nigerian to drill over a low cross that his strike partner, a Georgian, slammed in off the post.
After defeating Braga in midweek to go to the Champions League knockout stages, Napoli won their second straight game at home behind a goal from Kvaratskhelia, who has now scored two goals in almost two months.
AFP
