Napoli narrowly defeated Sassuolo 1-0 in Sunday’s early Serie A game at the Mapei Stadium.
A solitary first-half Jose Callejon goal from a Gonzalo Higuain assist was enough to give his side the three points.
Both sides showed early ambition and Napoli came close to opening the scoring within the first five minutes when Callejon set up Marek Hamsik in the penalty area but the Slovakian’s shot was well saved by Andrea Consigli in the Sassuolo goal.
This encouraging opening was not a sign of things to come for the rest of the first twenty minutes however as both sides struggled to produce a telling final ball.
The Partenopei were appearing the more likely to break the deadlock with Callejon looking particularly lively and this proved the case after 28 minutes.
Higuain picked up the ball on the left of the penalty area and his precise cross to the back post was swept in by the Spaniard to make it 1-0.
Rafael Benitez’s men were also remaining secure defensively giving Simone Zaza and Sergio Floccari a frustrating time in Sassuolo’s search for an equaliser, or indeed a shot on target.
The rest of the half played out with very little in the way of goalscoring chances and the visitors looking comfortable leading 1-0.
Goalscoring chances were again at a premium for the first ten minutes of the second half with the most notable incident being a coming together between Saphir Taider and Walter Gargano for which both players were booked.
The Neroverdi eventually came close to levelling the score on 62 minutes when substitute Simone Missiroli found space on the edge of the penalty area but his curling right footed shot was just off target.
Both sides were proving wasteful in possession at times which, added to the lack of goalmouth action, was making the game uninspiring as a spectacle and with 15 minutes left it looked destined to stay at 1-0.
The introduction of Leonardo Pavoletti for Eusebio Di Francesco’s men seemed to spur them on however and they began to trouble the Napoli backline a lot more.
This was evident on 85 minutes when Azzurri keeper Rafael Cabral was relieved to see a deflected Federico Peluso shot come back off his crossbar.
The home side were ultimately unable to find a way past the Brazilian goalkeeper and the match finished 1-0 to give Napoli their second Serie A win of the season.
Follow Allan Eccles on Twitter: @bookedforsim
