Focus on refereeing controversy takes away from thrilling Napoli-Atalanta encounter

Date: 31st October 2019 at 12:48pm
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Napoli were held to a 2-2 draw against Atalanta on Wednesday night but a refereeing decision unfortunately gained more attention than the quality of the football that was on show.

Nikola Maksimovic opened the scoring for the Partenopei but Remo Freuler equalised for La Dea four minutes before half-time. Arkadiusz Milik regained the lead for the Neapolitans but Josip Ilicic equalised in controversial circumstances near the end of the game.

Atalanta remain third in the Serie A table with 21 points after 10 rounds but the draw means that Napoli have dropped down to sixth, after both Roma and Lazio won their respective league fixtures.

KJAER-LLORENTE SPARKS ANOTHER MOMENT OF OUTRAGE

Eighty-five minutes had been played when Napoli forward Dries Mertens crossed from the left-wing and his teammate Fernando Llorente was battling for the ball with Atalanta centre-back Simon Kjaer.

The Danish defender seemed to have barged into the Spanish centre-forward in the initial challenge but reverse angle replays and VAR showed that the striker had used his right arm to bring his opponent’s head further down to the ground.

This decision not to award the Neapolitans a penalty and to allow the Orobici goal instead outraged Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti as well as team manager Paolo De Matteis, prompting referee Piero Giacomelli to send both off.

Unfortunately these decisions are not easy to make with the naked eye and are sometimes down to interpretation. Having said that, the Ciucciarelli had enough chances to win by a greater margin and they need to improve their finishing in the following games.

Jose Callejon could have opened the scoring before Maksimovic did but his effort was saved by Atalanta goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini, Milik hit the post with a header, and the Pole also hit the bar with a free-kick.

ILICIC ADDS ANOTHER DIMENSION TO ATALANTA’S PLAY

Inconsistency has often plagued the career of Slovenian Josip Ilicic but he is one of the most exciting players in Serie A on his day. The 31-year-old functions as a forward under Gian Piero Gasperini at Atalanta and his mercurial talents can turn games around like the latest encounter with Napoli.

After playing a part in the build-up for the first goal, he scored the second with four minutes of regulation time remaining and he almost grabbed the winner but Partenopei goalkeeper Alex Meret pulled off a fine save.

In his first Serie A appearances for 2019/20, the Slovenian had scored just once and provided one assist. In the last two matches, he has found the back of the net three times, provided an assist, and played a part in some of the other goals.

Although the diminutive Argentine Alejandro Gomez is the main source of creativity for Atalanta, Ilicic can provide extra flair when he is in the right frame of mind and he makes Gasperini’s system less rigid.

ATALANTA FIND UNLIKELY ASSIST MAKER IN TOLOI

Brazilian centre-back Rafael Toloi has been a mainstay of the Atalanta defence since Gasperini became the coach in 2016 but against Napoli he proved he can also contribute offensively.

For the first goal, he commenced his run just inside the opposition half and drew out three opponents before playing a one-two with Ilicic. After gaining the ball back, he played a first-time through-ball to Freuler, whose shot fortuitously beat Meret.

Ilicic’s equaliser then came courtesy of Toloi’s through-ball after the defender had advanced forward during a counterattack.

Was it Brazilian magic or a testament to Gasperini’s way of coaching, especially how he encourages his defenders to be comfortable on the ball? Either way, it is always handy for a team to find an extra source of creativity.

 

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