MAPEI STADIUM (Reggio Emilia) – Napoli came from behind at Sassuolo to end an eight-match winless run in Serie A, heading into the Christmas break after a first win since October 19.
Junior Traore gave Sassuolo the lead but after a lifeless first half void of any positives the Partenopei came out fighting in the second half and turned the game on its head.
Napoli fought from behind to earn their first Serie A win since October 19 at Sassuolo and @ConJClancy was at his fourth #FIFattheGames of the weekend to see it.
Report ? https://t.co/lG4RHXHgBY#SassuoloNapoli #SerieA pic.twitter.com/PaIlo6fcWO
— ForzaItalianFootball (@SerieAFFC) December 22, 2019
Sassuolo started the better and could have gone ahead inside 90 seconds, only for Mario Rui to get back and clear a looped Manuel Locatelli header.
Francesco Caputo then had two identical half-chances. Arriving late in the area to meet low crosses from either side, he was just a split-second too late both times to make contact as he looked to turn the ball towards goal.
Junior Traore was lively and direct and he was rewarded for his early efforts with the opener. Locatelli picked out a deep ball to the back post and the teenager didn’t give up on it, sliding to divert the ball back towards goal. He succeeded and his effort squirmed under Alex Meret’s legs and in.
Those two combined again for what should have been Sassuolo’s second. Locatelli led a counterattack and slipped the teenager through but his finish wasn’t up to scratch and Meret, who had stayed big, saved.
Jeremie Boga had the first chance of the second half just moments after the restart. Finding space on the left he carried on into the box and shot into the side netting.
Lorenzo Insigne, who drew level with Ciro Ferrara as Napoli’s sixth highest appearance maker – then had a strange opportunity straight away. He broke on the left and tried to catch Gianluca Pegolo off guard with an early effort. His shot was mishit, but Pegolo fell as the ball came towards him and he had to improvise by kicking the ball away while lying on his line.
Insigne forced a more conventional save from him again soon after, curling an effort too much and into the goalkeeper’s arms.
Mert Muldur should have given the Neroverdi breathing room. He mazed his way through on the right but dragged a low effort wide of Meret’s far post.
Napoli levelled before the hour mark though. Piotr Zielinski played a ball into Arkadiusz Milik’s feet but the Polish forward let the ball run through to Allan. The Brazilian then shift onto his right, took a few steps and then picked out the top corner with a fine finish.
A clever freekick almost put the visitors ahead. Insigne chipped the ball over the wall and Jose Callejon got free, but Pegolo came out and stayed up, deflecting the shot wide after closing the Spaniard’s angles.
Pressure was mounting on Roberto De Zerbi’s side and they were almost breached when Callejon crashed an effort off the bar. Dries Mertens then headed wide from what looked to be an unmissable chance for him.
He did head into an open goal with 80 minutes played, though a VAR showed he was offside.
Pedro Obiang put into his own goal in from close range in the dying second of stoppage time though to bring Napoli’s horrid run to an end.
