The Biancocelesti triumph and reach the quarters
Napoli head home from the Olimpico with a 3-1 defeat after Lazio beat them in the Coppa Italia. Giovanni Simeone scored the Azzurri’s only goal while Tijjani Noslin netted a hat-trick for the hosts.
Here’s what coach Antonio Conte said after the loss:
"It's a shame to be knocked out of the competition, but we knew what our chances were, especially given how good Lazio are. Today I wanted to field a team of players who’d seen little game time in the first five months of the campaign and who deserved to go on the pitch after working so hard in training.
"I know that some may call into question the changes I made but I’m consistent with my choices and I’ve got my own personal vision. If we want to build something big here we need to carefully evaluate all of options available to us. This was a chance to do so, and to see how the squad as a whole is developing.
"I saw positive signs - the team reacted well after the goal, getting the equaliser and matching Lazio for possession. We probably could've done more with the goals we conceded, especially from set pieces. However, overall I’m not disappointed because I saw how committed the lads were – each player gave their all.
Goalscoring Argentine striker Giovanni Simeone also gave his thoughts:
“Obviously I’m not happy, despite scoring, because we’ve not made it to the next round. We could’ve done more and we’re disappointed with the outcome of this evening’s game because we wanted to progress in the Coppa Italia.
“We need to channel this anger into something positive so that we react quickly. When you lose you’re always looking to make amends quickly and on Sunday we’ve got to do everything we can to bounce back and steady the ship.”
Lazio 3-1 Napoli (HT 2-1)
Scorers: Noslin 32, Simeone 36, Noslin 42, Noslin 50
LAZIO: Mandas, Lazzari, Patric, Gigot, Hysaj, Dele-Bashiru (Castrovilli 73), Rovella, Tchaouna, Pedro (Isaksen 60), Zaccagni (Guendouzi 60), Noslin (Marusic 90+2).
NAPOLI: Caprile; Zerbin (Di Lorenzo 72), Rafa Marin, Juan Jesus, Spinazzola, Folorunsho (Folorunsho 72), Gilmour, Ngonge (Politano 72), Raspadori (Lobotka 85), Neres, Simeone.
Referee: Pairetto
Booked: Marin, Hysaj, Zaccagni, Neres
