Following on the Coppa Italia triumph, Napoli are finishing the season strong after two emphatic wins against Cagliari and Sampdoria.
With third place and a spot in the Champions League preliminary round already assured ahead of Tuesday night’s kick-off against Cagliari, the Partenopei paraded the Coppa Italia trophy to the San Paolo crowd that showed its support for Ciro Esposito, who remains in critical condition after being shot in Rome the previous weekend.
Cagliari have failed to win 23 of their last 24 away matches in Serie A and this was evident as the Sardinian side were content to defend deep as Napoli controlled the match playing with pace and intensity. A Dries Mertens penalty and a close-range finish from Goran Pandev gave the Azzurri a deserved two-goal lead after the first-half.
38-year-old goalkeeper Roberto Colombo made his Napoli debut and his first competitive appearance since playing for Triestina in Serie B in May 2011 as a half-time replacement for Pepe Reina. But it was 23-year-old Marco Silvestri on-loan at Cagliari from Chievo that hit the headlines after conceding a penalty and earning a receiving a straight red card for bringing down Pandev inside the penalty box on 54 minutes.
Marek Hamsik hammered his spot-kick against the crossbar, but the Azzurri got a third goal only three minutes later when Colombo quickly released the ball after blocking a Marco Sau shot to set-off a fantastic counter-attack led by the Napoli captain.
With the Isolani having committed more players forward in open play than at any previous point in the match, Hamsik led a group of five Partenopei players running in unison across the pitch against an exposed and narrow Cagliari back-four that was trying to get back into position before playing the ball left to Mertens. The Belgian, who was celebrating his 27th birthday, found Pandev whose shot was parried by Cagliari substitute Vlada Avramov into the path of Blerim Dzemaili to score on the rebound.
The Partenopei then put on another fine attacking display at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in a seven-goal thriller against Sampdoria on Sunday.
The match at the Marassi also saw the debut of Napoli’s ‘Xtreme’ fourth shirt, which combines the colours of the other three kits, as the Vesuviani further extended their goals scored in all competitions during a single season record by moving up to 99.
Napoli had a two-goal advantage after 27 minutes through Duvan Zapata’s close range header and a superb Lorenzo Insigne shot from distance. Eder pulled a goal back on 30 minutes after beating Reina with an accurate shot in off the far post, but Jose Callejon restored the Vesuviani’s two-goal lead only two minutes later with a free-kick that bounced in front of Vincenzo Fiorillo.
After withstanding a spell of Sampdoria pressure at the end of the first-half, the Partenopei were excellent for the first twenty minutes of the second-half retaining possession for significant spells and Zapata was particularly influential when dropping into wide positions and powerfully running with the ball. This was highlighted for Napoli’s fourth goal when the Colombian was released on the right side to cross for Hamsik to score his first goal since the 2-1 win over Catania on November 2 2013.
Napoli’s fifth goal came from a cross from the right side again on 61 minutes as Shkodran Mustafi deflected Callejon’s cross into his own net before Blucerchiati substitute Pawel Wszolek beat Toni Doblas, who was the second goalkeeper to make his Napoli debut this week as a replacement for Reina on 79 minutes, to complete the scoring.
While Cagliari and Sampdoria are currently out of form and had little to play for, Rafa Benitez was able to take confidence from the manner and margin of both victories with his side having struggled to break down sides in the bottom half of Serie A at times this season.
“It was not an easy match because after having already achieved our objectives you do not always have the right motivation,” the 54-year-old tactician told Radio Kiss Kiss after the Sampdoria match.
“There were so many positive things such as the goals from Duvan and Hamsik, Insigne’s stellar shot that could send him to the World Cup, the returns of Juan Zuniga and Christian Maggio and the debut of Doblas. Today our guys displayed many important qualities.”
Napoli will now look to finish the 2013-2014 season with over a 100 goals scored when they host Hellas Verona on Sunday evening.
The game is set to be played behind closed doors after the Giudice Sportivo handed the club a two match stadium ban and a €60,000 fine as the result of the incidents surrounding the Coppa Italia final. However Angelo Pisani, lawyer to Diego Maradona and Ciro Esposito, has spoken to Radio Crc about an optimistic proposal to fill the San Paolo with children accompanied by their mothers in tribute to Esposito’s mother, Antonella Leardi.
