Napoli seals dramatic win as Juve hoodoo goes on
A late winner from Giacomo Raspadori saw Napoli extend its five-year winning run at home against Juventus with a dramatic 2-1 win at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, effectively extinguishing the Bianconeri's feint title hopes in the process.
Raspadori was quickest to react after Victory Osimhen had an 88th-minute penalty saved by Wojciech Szczesny, blasting the ball in off the post to send the home support wild with excitement.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put Napoli in front three minutes before half-time with a spectacular volley that whistled in at the near post, but the hosts struggled to maintain control in a second half dominated by their visitors, eventually allowing Federico Chiesa enough space to blast home a superb 81st-minute equaliser.
But Osimhen's experience saw him win a penalty seven minutes later, initially missed by the on-field referee but later confirmed by VAR, which clearly showed the Nigeria star had been caught by Joseph Nonge in a tussle for the ball inside the box.
Osimhen, though, could not convert as Szczesny dived to his left to save, but a rapid Raspadori arrived in the blink of an eye to bury the rebound emphatically, so quickly that the Juve players thought he had encroached. Replays, however, confirmed he had not.
Napoli moved up to seventh in the standings with this victory, with a tally of 43 points, while Juventus remains stuck second on 57, with leader Inter Milan now able to pull a massive 15 points clear with a win over Genoa on Tuesday (AEDT).
The visitors were first to test the waters and Dusan Vlahovic aimed and fired just wide of the far post in the 11th minute.
Napoli came closest to opening the scoring when Frank Anguissa was denied by Szczesny from six yards and Matteo Politano’s follow-up was also kept out by the Poland goalkeeper.
The game was already teeing up to be an end-to-end thriller, this time Chiesa picked out Samuel Iling-Junior but his first-time effort went marginally wide.
Juventus came within inches of breaking the deadlock in the 34th minute when Vlahovic latched on to Chiesa’s through ball, he dinked the ball over the onrushing Alex Meret but was denied by the far post.
Back came Napoli and Mathias Olivera’s header towards goal was cleared off the line by Alex Sandro with the score somehow still at 0-0.
Three minutes before the break, Napoli had a breakthrough. Moments after Anguissa had a shot blocked, a defensive header fell into the path of Kvaratskhelia, who proved too powerful for Szczesny and volleyed the ball into the bottom corner.
Juventus could have had an equaliser almost straight away after Daniele Rugani capitalised on some loose possession in the home defence, the ball fell kindly to Vlahovic but he could not take advantage and skied his effort over the crossbar.
Chances continued to come for Serbia international Vlahovic but he failed to find the back of the net, this time he broke the line but tamely hit his shot into the firm grasp of Meret.
Juventus went in search of an equaliser, Southampton loanee Carlos Alcaraz decided to have a crack this time but his shot deflected kindly for Meret.
The visitors found an equaliser in the 82nd minute when Chiesa found space just inside the box and cracked a daisycutter into the bottom-left corner to level things up at 1-1.
Napoli was given the chance to retake the lead after Osimhen was brought down inside the box by Nonge, with referee Maurizio Mariani awarding a penalty after a VAR check.
From the resulting spot-kick, Osimhen saw his strike saved by Szczesny but Raspadori was on hand to smash home his rebound via the post to save the blushes of the Nigeria striker.
Juventus missed a golden opportunity to snatch an equaliser at the death when Chiesa’s driven cross was diverted over the crossbar by Rugani with the goal at his mercy.
