The Lariani victorious at the Maradona
Napoli’s season opener at the Maradona ended in a win for Como. Cesc Fabregas’s side took the lead just after the quarter-hour mark with a turn and shot by Martin Baturina inside the box. On the half-hour mark, the Azzurri equalised with a precise and powerful left-footed strike from Rasmus Hojlund just outside the penalty area. Como retook the lead in the 34th minute with a run through the defence by Tasos Douvikas. In the second half, Napoli launched an all-out attack and even managed to equalise at the death through Stanislav Lobotka, but the goal was ruled out due to Lorenzo Lucca being offside by just a few centimetres. The match ended 2–1 to Como.
Azzurri coach Massimiliano Allegri had this to say about the match:
“We certainly need to improve in terms of reading the game. We need to be able to manage the different phases of a match, and today we didn’t do that well. It’s a shame because, in the end, we had more chances to score than we did in Genoa.”
“After the equaliser, we shouldn’t have allowed Como so much space. We didn’t recognise the danger, especially towards the end of the first half. Then, in the second half, we pinned them back in their own box, but we couldn’t find the equaliser.”
“The lads need to understand that we’re a competitive team, but we need to grow and improve, especially mentally, in approaching different phases of the game. I’m disappointed because we had it in us to put on a good performance for our season debut in our stadium, but there are also some positive signs that we can build on.”
Napoli 1-2 Como
Scorers: Baturina 17, Hojlund 30, Douvikas 34
Napoli: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Rafa Marin, Olivera (Spinazzola 56), Anguissa (Neres 80), Lobotka, McTominay (De Bruyne 56), Politano, Lang (Alisson 56), Hojlund (Lucca 80).
Coach: Massimiliano Allegri
Como: Butez; Couto (Smolcic 58), Ramon, Chalobah, Valle, Da Cunha (Perrone 66), Milla, Diao (Kempf 66), Nico Paz (Kaiki 82), Baturina (Caqueret 58), Douvikas.
Coach: Cesc Fabregas
Referee: Pairetto from Nichelino
Booked: Di Lorenzo.
