As Napoli battle to remain in contention to win a historical third Serie A title in their history, they can rely on the lithe and nimble Dries Mertens, who is peaking again at the right time.
The Belgian forward has been in great form recently, scoring four goals in his last three matches for the Partenopei including a sublime chip in the 2-0 victory against Benevento on Sunday evening.
After 23 rounds Napoli are leading the scudetto race by one point ahead of Juventus and they have recently displayed the ability to grind out close victories even when they cannot play in their typically exciting style.
Mertens had an impressive start to the 2017-18 Serie A season scoring 10 goals in just 11 games but then he went on a barren run by failing to score in the league for two months.
The 30-year-old was not able to escape defenders like he usually would in that goalless run and opposition teams were also defending deep against the Partenopei, which prevented the Neapolitans from attacking at a high-tempo and creating triangles while in possession.
Despite failing to score in nine league matches, coach Maurizio Sarri kept faith in the Belgian international. Although the absence of Arkadiusz Milik due to a knee injury and the lack of an adequate back-up striker has played a part in that decision, Mertens still provided four assists in that time and his presence would have been enough to keep opposition defenders focused.
With the diminutive forward not scoring freely, Napoli were not registering the comprehensive victories in Serie A like they usually would yet the Belgian broke his scoring drought in one of the tightest matches of the season.
In January the Partenopei travelled to Bergamo to face Atalanta, who have become a bogey team for them in the last couple of years by winning three out of their previous four competitive fixtures.
Despite being pegged back in the first half by La Dea, they away side found a way and Jose Callejon played a through-ball to Mertens, who ran on to score the solitary goal. Although there was some debate as to whether the goal was offside or not, the goal stood and the Ciucciarelli collected the vital three points.
After scoring the winner against Atalanta, Mertens scored twice in the 3-1 win against Bologna in the following round, and he opened the scoring against Benevento on Sunday. Unfortunately he came off with some ankle problems against the Stregoni but initial signs suggest that it is not a serious injury.
If the Belgian international can shrug off the ankle concerns, he should be a fundamental part of the Napoli team for the remainder of the season due to his prolific scoring as well as the ability to score spectacular goals in addition to the simplistic ones.
With the Belgian back in form, Napoli can sustain their form required to win the scudetto and also demonstrate that they can win it in style.
