Napoli fans must make the San Paolo “hell” for Fiorentina on Sunday, says coach Maurizio Sarri.
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Fiorentina, conceding just their second defeat, remain top but now have just a one-point lead on Roma and two on Inter Milan, who could go top of the league if they beat Juventus in the “Derby d’Italia” later Sunday.
Nikola Kalinic leveled for Fiorentina in the 73rd minute but Gonzalo Higuain fired Napoli back in front less than two minutes later.
As for this host’s this weekend, their recent run of form has been second only to Fiorentina’s in the league, having picked up three wins and two draws from their last five outings.
“I said early on that the love of the fans would be crucial for us, and I never had any doubt that this would be a problem”. Napoli came out of this match deserved winners, and what a huge win it is. “There is still a long way to go and at the moment we’re focused on Thursday’s game in Denmark [against FC Midtjylland]”.
TSS: I’m going to go in probably an unexpected direction here, but I think each team had a player who was better and more impactful than their goalscorers.
Minutes later Higuain spurned the chance to double Napoli’s lead when he bundled just over from close range.
Napoli almost had a second when Raul Albiol’s header hit the crossbar, but Fiorentina were always a threat and levelled when Kalinic ran on to Josip Ilicic’s ball over the top and placed his shot past Pepe Reina.
But minutes later the stadium erupted when Higuain dispossessed Ilicic deep in Fiorentina territory, played a one-two with Dries Mertens and held off his marker to beat Tatarusanu down low.
Despite its promising start to the campaign, Sarri refuses to consider his side as a genuine title contender at present. “They are capable of winning the Scudetto”.
Frosinone scored twice in the second half to down Sampdoria 2-0 and clinch their second win.
Finally, a penalty from Domenico Berardi and a fortunate rebound from Simone Missiroli helped hosts Sassuolo secure a 2-1 win over former champions Lazio.
Lazio reduced the arrears seven minutes later when Keita set up Felipe Anderson in the area and his diagonal shot found the back of the net.
“We know there are stronger teams than us out there”, said Sousa after their last match, a 3-0 victory against Atalanta, “But we have our own arsenal of strengths and we’re building a united team mentality”.
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Belec was beaten again on the stroke of half-time in more spectacular fashion, Gomez hitting a superb corner that sneaked over the entire Carpi defence and into the far top corner.
