Mertens – Napoli
Napoli destroyed Hellas Verona 5-1 at the Stadio San Paolo in their final Serie A game of the 2013/14 season on Sunday night.
Duvan Zapata scored a brace, Dries Mertens earned two goals of his own and two assists, while Jose Callejon added another in a dominant Partenopei victory. Juan Iturbe scored a consolation for the visitors.
Lorenzo Insigne created the first chance of the match from a headed pass from Callejon as the Italian’s shot was saved by Nicolas Andrade.
Just two minutes later, Callejon scored thanks to a delightful through ball from Mertens, cutting the Verona defence wide open, allowing the Spaniard to convert easily past Andrade.
Napoli continued the onslaught and doubled their lead shortly after the opening goal. Mertens was the provider again, but this time for Zapata with a composed finish into the bottom left corner.
Hellas finally mustered some shots of their own following that strike. Luca Toni, Emil Halfredsson and Marquinho all had opportunities, however they were all saved or blocked.
It went from bad to worse as Zapata earned his brace with a header to make it 3-0 on 25 minutes.
Insigne nearly made it 4-0 after his shot was saved in the bottom right corner, with Mertens once again delivering the assist.
The Belgian almost scored one of his own, but as the ball was rolling into the back of the net, it was cleared off the line.
Mertens finally got his goal just after an hour of play with a left footed, curling effort out of the reach of Andrade.
Iturbe was able to give Verona fans something to cheer for a few minutes later as he cut the deficit down to 4-1 with a well executed free kick into the top left corner.
Mertens then put a bow on a flawless performance with his second goal of the game, which was the last strike in a one-sided, but convincing showing for the hosts to finish their season.
