Napoli are Coppa Italia winners for the fifth time after a 3-1 victory against Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday night.
However celebrations have been marred by the news that Napoli fan Ciro Esposito remains in intensive care at Gemelli hospital in Rome after being shot in the chest by Roma ultra Daniele De Santis in an attack that led to scenes of violence and confusion before the match.
With the well-being and circumstances surrounding the shooting of Esposito and two other fans unclear ahead of kick-off, chaotic scenes ensued inside the Olimpico with Neapolitan ultras believed to have summoned captain Marek Hamsik back out to the pitch after completing his warm-up for clarification about the clashes and resulting injuries.
Reports have suggested that without getting the assurances that they wanted, Napoli supporters were unwilling for the game to be played without incident. But Rome’s police chief Massimo Mazza has since denied there was never any doubt that the match could have been abandoned and that the club had asked Hamsik to explain to the ultras that Esposito was in a stable condition.
Despite needing to undergo a second warm-up as a result of the kick-off being delayed by 45 minutes, the Napoli players responded brilliantly to the consternation and took control of the match with two goals inside the first 17 minutes by local hero Lorenzo Insigne.
The 22-year-old Neapolitan had been subject to some bizarre incidents in the earlier rounds of the club’s Coppa campaign including scoring a controversial, but crucial, goal in the Azzurri’s opening match against Atalanta after the ball bounced off the back of Cristiano Del Grosso into his path when the defender was appealing for an offside decision against Gonzalo Higuain to being the victim of jeers by a section of the San Paolo support when substituted in the quarter-final win over Lazio.
But Insigne showcased his skills on the big occasion, perhaps sealing a spot in the Italy World Cup squad in the process, as Napoli took the lead on 11 minutes with an excellent counter-attacking goal. Josip Ilicic’s attempted lay-off for Alberto Aquilani was intercepted by Jorginho on the edge of the Partenopei penalty box and with five Fiorentina players ahead of the ball Hamsik was able to drive forward unchallenged from inside his own half before playing a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Insigne. The wide man took a first-time curling right foot shot without breaking his stride that went in off the far post.
The only Italian in the Napoli starting eleven scored his second six minutes later when a pass back on the left wing by Juan Manuel Vargas for Manuel Pasqual was picked up by Higuain. Pipita stepped past the challenge of Stefan Savic and rolled a pass across the box that was intended for Hamsik, but found Insigne for another first-time shot taken in his stride that deflected off Nenad Tomovic’s leg to beat Neto.
One of the highlights of the Tuscan side’s season was when they fought back from a two goal deficit to win 4-2 against Juventus in October and they responded well enjoying large spells of possession as shown in the patient build-up play for their only goal of the game.
With the entire Vesuviani team holding a defensive shape inside their own half, the Viola probed from right to left before Gonzalo Rodriguez found Ilicic, who flicked the central-defender’s bouncing ball over the top of Raul Albiol and Federico Fernandez for Vargas. The Peruvian beat the offside trap as he was played onside by right-back Henrique, who was perhaps focusing on the run of Manuel Pasqual in behind him, and he found the back of the net with an emphatic left foot half-volley.
Napoli defended deep and played on the counter for the remainder of the match, while Hamsik was forced off on 63 minutes after suffering a knock to his right shin and Goran Pandev replaced a tiring Higuain with twenty minutes still to play.
Gökhan Inler also sat out the final eleven minutes after receiving a second yellow card, but substitute Dries Mertens sealed the tie with a third goal in stoppage time to secure a second Coppa Italia success in three years for the Partenopei and silverware for Rafa Benitez in his first season as head coach.
Napoli will now look to confirm third position in Serie A and a Champions League play-off place at Fiorentina’s expense when they host Cagliari on Tuesday night. The Azzurri are unbeaten against the Sardinian side in their last nine meetings and can match last season’s points total of 78 should they win their final three fixtures.
