AS Roma have climbed up to third place on the Serie A League table after a hard-fought win over rivals SSC Napoli. This week 11 fixture was the Rome Giant’s sixth Victory of the league campaign leaving them on 22 points 7 behind League leaders Juventus FC.
Roma came into the match in a rich vein of form having won their previous two matches in the league. Paulo Fonseca’s men started the game in strong fashion dominating possession as they piled pressure on their opponents in the early minutes.
It wasn’t long before the home side took the lead when Roma midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo struck a lovely ball from just inside the Napoli 18 yard box which sailed straight into the top right-hand corner in the 19th minute. Things got better for the home side when they were awarded an innocuous penalty via var when Napoli midfielder Jose Callejon handled the ball in the penalty box.
Roma fullback Aleksandar Kolarov stepped up to hit the spot-kick which was well saved by the Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret. The penalty save seemed to invigorate the away side as they started to create chances of their own. Napoli Defender Giovanni di Lorenzo saw his effort cleared off the line before two Napoli balls Cannoned pictures of the Roma goal post to leave the home side going into the break leading 1-0.
The second half began with the home side looking for that insurance second goal. It didn’t take long for that to happen when Roma was awarded another penalty in the 54th minute which was dispatched by Frenchman Jordan Veretout to put the home side 2-0 up. Roma were now in the ascendancy and almost scored a third goal when striker Patrick Kluivert hit a shot that was well saved by the Napoli goalkeeper.
The visitors continued to be persistent, and their industry was rewarded in the 75th of the match when substitute Hirving Lozano combined with forward, Arkadiusz Milik who scored to halve the deficit to 2-1. The two teams traded chances, but no further goals were added as the home side held on for an important win. As for Napoli, this loss leaves Carlo Ancelotti’s men in 7th place with 18 points from 11 matches.
Written by: Ayotunde Omolayole
