A win for the Azzurri at Via del Mare
Napoli came away with a 1-0 win over Lecce on Tuesday evening. The hosts looked dangerous early in the second half after being awarded a penalty, however Vanja Milinkovic-Savic was there to deny Francesco Camarda from the spot. The winning goal came in the 69th minute after Frank Zambo Anguissa connected with a cross from David Neres following a corner and headed it into the net. This was Zambo’s second goal in three days after his impressive display against Inter.
Antonio Conte had this to say following the game:
“Well done to the lads because today wasn’t easy, especially after the match against Inter where we used up a lot of physical and mental energy.
“Lecce are a good team. We did well in the first half but then we had to manage the second half a bit better.
“You can never take anything for granted. Before any tactical decisions, you need to have heart and legs. Those that want to play for the top teams need to have character and the right mentality.
“Let’s not underestimate where we’re coming from. We’ve had a lot of injuries and we can’t forget that. These situations are forgotten about all too quickly. We’ve had, and still have, key players out. Being without [Kevin] De Bruyne and [Romelu] Lukaku means we’re missing some quality. We need to respond well and continue showing this character.”
Eljif Elmas commented on the team’s performance:
“We knew we were in for a tough battle. Leagues are won through these hard-fought matches, and we responded well.
“Maybe we gave Lecce too much, but after the game against Inter we had to make sure we built on our recent successes.
“I’m happy to have started. I spent five amazing years at Napoli and I’m happy I get to wear this shirt again.
“We have a solid and united group, and everyone wants to help the team so that we can achieve big things.”
Lecce 0-1 Napoli (HT 0-0)
Scorers: Anguissa 69
LECCE: Falcone; Veiga, Gaspar, Tiago Gabriel, Gallo; Berisha (Pierret 77), Ramadani, Coulibaly (Maleh 77) Banda (N'Dri 65), Camarda (Stulic 70), Pierotti (Morente 46).
Coach: Di Francesco
NAPOLI: Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Juan Jesus, Buongiorno, Olivera (Spinazzola 61), Anguissa, Gilmour, Elmas (Gutierrez 85) Politano (McTominay 61), Lang (Neres 48), Lucca (Hojlund 61).
Coach: Conte
Referee: Collu (Cagliari)
Booked: Olivera
