Juventus 3-1 Napoli
Juventus made it seven wins in seven and six points clear at the top of Serie A after a hard-earned victory over closest rivals Napoli.
Two goals from Mario Mandzukic put the Bianconeri in charge after Dries Mertens had given the visitors an early lead, and a late strike from Leonardo Bonucci sealed the points.
This is the ultimate Serie A clash and it didn’t disappoint, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side right in the game until they went down to ten men when Mario Rui saw red.
Highlights of the game
Lorenzo Insigne showed just what an influential player he is with a man-of-the-match performance as Napoli won away to Torino last weekend. And he almost set up the perfect start for the visitors, finding Piotr Zielinski in space on the edge of the box, but the Poland midfielder’s shot struck the right-hand post.
Cristiano Ronaldo was probably relieved to get just a one-game Champions League ban after his red card against Valencia last week, which means he can play against Manchester United later in the campaign. But in the meantime, maintaining Juve’s perfect start in Serie A is the only thing in his mind. And when Miralem Pjanic teed him up, he hit a fierce drive saved by David Ospina.
And then, on ten minutes, Napoli took a surprise lead when Jose Callejon crossed for Dries Mertens and the Belgian star stabbed the ball home from close range. That was a real shock to the Old Lady’s system, and the hosts knew they were in a game.
They tried to get back into the match quickly with efforts from Giorgio Chiellini and Ronaldo. And as the pressure began to build, Napoli’s defence was inevitably breached on 27 minutes. Ronaldo put in the perfect cross for Mario Mandzukic, and the striker’s header flew into the net to send the Juventus Stadium crowd wild.
Ronaldo is going to be there in the big Serie A 2018 news all season, and he was determined to put his stamp on this game. The Portuguese wizard was all over the place, and he tried an audacious shot from distance, but Ospina was equal to it at his bottom-left corner. Juventus continued to press, but Napoli were closest to regaining the lead before the break when Insigne passed to Mario Rui and the wing-back’s shot flew inches over.
The second half was only minutes old when the Bianconeri took the game by the scruff of its neck. And it was that man Mandzukic again, who collected the ball in the middle of the penalty area and shot low and hard into the corner, who made it 2-1.
Napoli fought back and put the Juventus back line under serious pressure; Rui forced a save before Zielinski had a shot blocked. Following a corner, Kalidou Koulibaly fired wide. Then Marek Hamsik found Mertens, and he came close to a second as his shot arrowed towards the top corner, but Wojciech Szczesny saved it.
Just as they looked like getting back into the game, the visitors’ task suddenly became virtually impossible. Rui, who’d been booked in the first half, put in an awful challenge on Paulo Dybala and fully deserved his red card.
It was all over on 76 minutes when Fabian Ruiz conceded a corner, which Ronaldo crossed for Bonucci to fire home, to make it 3-1 and seven wins in seven for the champions. Napoli have some catching up to do.
Key Statistics
The Juventus vs Napoli odds pointed to a hard-fought home win and, until Rui received his marching orders, the game was very much in the balance.
The first half saw the Bianconeri enjoying 57 per cent possession and winning the shot count by nine to four, with Napoli’s only shot on target, from Mertens, finding the net.
By the final whistle, Napoli had 14 shots to Juventus’ 17, but the numerical disadvantage left them stretched. But what a game!
What’s next?
So the Old Lady’s perfect start continues. The Young Boys of Switzerland are the next opponents in the Champion League before Juventus take a trip to mid-table Udinese in an attempt to make it eight league wins in eight.
Napoli can only lick their wounds and come back fighting, with two very tough fixtures coming up. Ancelotti’s team hosts Liverpool in the Champions League in midweek, before taking on Sassuolo in Serie A. That will be another great game to watch for SBOBET Serie A fans, as the Neroverdi have made a good start to its campaign under Roberto De Zerbi, with star striker Domenico Berardi on two goals so far.
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