STADIO ENNIO TARDINI (Parma) – Yet another Parma game was decided by penalties as they edged Napoli 2-1 on an impossibly hot evening in Emilia-Romagna.
Just as they had lost to Fiorentina by two penalties to one a few weeks earlier, the Crociati had a couple of their own against the Partenopei and would have felt as though they were overdue their own slice of good fortune at the Tardini.
Parma’s first-goal curse was finally overcome at the Tardini as they took a lead and held on for three big points against Napoli.@ConJClancy was there for #FIFattheGames.
Report ? https://t.co/ISNhX37hdz#ParmaNapoli #SerieA pic.twitter.com/tN3nvp7DIY
— ForzaItalianFootball (@SerieAFFC) July 22, 2020
Given their record from leading positions since Serie A’s return – losing five times after opening the scoring – Parma did well to avoid taking a lead early in the first half.
Yann Karamoh had chances, first firing wildly wide when cutting in from the left before taking too long when he was squared up by Alex Meret, instead opting to tee up Luca Siligardi having forced himself wide but the No.26’s effort was cleared.
Luigi Sepe had saves to make at the other end to keep Matteo Politano and Giovanni Di Lorenzo out either side of Karamoh’s chances, but there wasn’t too much in the way of clear-cut chances other than those.
Lorenzo Insigne, Fabian Ruiz and Alberto Grassi registered shots for their respective sides, but the former’s was blocked shortly after it left his foot and the latter two couldn’t find the target.
Parma were awarded a penalty late in the first half, just as the game ticked into stoppage time.
Gianluca Caprari stepped up to put the Crociati ahead as the half-time whistle sounded, giving them no time to blow their lead before the break.
It didn’t take too long for that lead to disappear though as Grassi handled about five minutes after the restart.
A freekick was initially awarded until referee Antonio Giua consulted his pitchside monitor, spotted the handball had occurred in the area and pointed to the penalty spot.
Lorenzo Insigne stepped up, sent Sepe the wrong way and found the bottom corner for the leveller and Roberto D’Aversa could have been forgiven if he was fearing the worst.
Sepe was on hand to produce a good stop denying a fine curled effort from Hirving Lozano’s effort with the outside of his right foot before Jose Callejon curled his own effort over.
Dejan Kulusevski’s arrival sparked life into the Gialloblu and it didn’t take him long to win a penalty.
The Swede went down under a challenge in the 85th minute. Characteristically confident, the winger stepped up himself and made no mistake from 12 yards with his eighth goal of the season.
