Fonseca more man: Roma can think of the scudetto, Napoli can also forget it | First page

Napoli is out of the fight for the scudetto, Rome is entering it and not exactly by chance. On the day when Ancelotti's father is forced to leave the bench to his son Davide, the Azzurri lose a race that they deserved to equalize, while Fonseca's men pass, at least momentarily, Atalanta in third place, with the usual goal of Zaniolo and a penalty transformed by Veretout, after the wrong one from Kolarov. Two penalties against will not make President De Laurentiis happy, frowning in the stands, but neither Rocchi (excellent) nor the Var (punctual) have done anything wrong.If anything, the Napoli can complain for what it has not been able to realize in the first half. In one case he was very good Smalling to save in split on header destined to Di Lorenzo's goal (28 ’), in the other Milik hit the crossbar and Zielinski, from outside, area hit the pole (41’) in the same action. Not marking was more injustice than imprecision. Even more so if on these occasions we add a shot by Milik (32 ') out of nothing, another of Insigne (35') deviated by Pau Lopez, a third of Mertens (44 ') high.

TAll this, as evidenced by the minutes, occurred after the penalty that Kolarov had missed (24 ’, great parade by Meret) and granted for a handball by Callejon inside the area. Naive infraction and perpetrated to cover Smalling in a game situation that would have led to nothing. Rocchi needed the help of the Var. No one, in fact, other than the same Callejon who claimed his innocence, had noticed.

Until then, Naples had done little. Both because he was hit early (18 ’) by a shot just inside the Zaniolo area (weak Manolas' opposition), both because Fabian Ruiz, unlike Veretout, turned empty. But after the penalty saved everything changed and Napoli deserved the 1-1 already at the end of the first half.

As demonstrated by Milik's goal (72 ') there was plenty of time to get the race back on its feet, but an unfortunate intervention by Mario Rui, with his limb wide and taller than his body, ended up giving him another rigor to Rome at the beginning of recovery. Frankly I could not understand what, in the interviews at the end of the race, Davide Ancelotti had to claim. That is always rigor, both with the new ones and with the old interpretations, and rightly Rocchi has sanctioned it without the need for any other help. Veretout, unlike Kolarov, has transformed.

While Lozano took the place of Callejon, Rome could even triple. But Kluivert, instead of enlarging to Zaniolo that it would have closed an amazing action of possession of the Giallorossi, started by the goalkeeper Pau Lopez, he preferred to shoot by hitting the crossbar.

It was one of the last manned actions of Roma before relying on the counterattack. Ancelotti, after Lozano, tried with the double center forward, or side by side Llorente (for Mertens) to Milik. Napoli's goal, which reopened the confrontation, came from an initiative by the Mexican who, after an escape, put in a low cross on which Cetin, in front of the line, missed the intervention: Milik pushed in easily.

Fonseca, good and elegant, he entered before Perotti for Kluivert, then Under for Zaniolo. The only conservative change there was at 89 ', when he took off Shepherd to insert Santon, making him among other things play in the same role as the Argentine.

The end was all about Naples. First with a shot by Zielinski, then with a free-kick from the edge of Milik, deflected by the barrier. Meanwhile Cetin expelled (denied a clear net opportunity in Milik) and at 80 'a minute of Rocchi's stop for the usual discriminatory choirs. A shame not only Italian, but harder to die here than elsewhere.

Rome is what many teams don't know how to be. In fact, he reached third place in the third place and, however he confirmed himself in the Champions League, when Mkhitaryan, Diawara, Pellegrini, Kalinic, Cristante and Zappacosta were missing, Fazio was disqualified and Florenzi officially became a reserve. The credit is from Fonseca. Italian coaches are good, but some Portuguese are better.

@gia_pad

THE TABLE

ROME-NAPLES 2-1 (first half 1-0)

Scorers: 19 ′ Zaniolo, 10′st Veretout (rig.), 31′st Milik
Assist: 19 ’Spinazzola, 31’st Lozano

Booked: 76 ′ Kluivert, 76 ′ Di Lorenzo, 86 ′ Spinazzola, 88 ′ Milik, 93 ′ Under
Expelled: 96 ′ Cetin (double admonition

Rome (4-2-3-1): Pau Lopez; Spinazzola, Cetin, Smalling, Kolarov; Mancini, Veretout; Zaniolo (36'st Under), Pastore (44′st Santon), Kluivert (32 ’st Perotti); Dzeko. All: Fonseca.

Napoli (4-4-2): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Callejon (13'st Lozano), Zielinski, Fabian Ruiz, Insigne (28′st Younes); Mertens (20'st Llorente), Milik. All .: Davide Ancelotti (Carlo Ancelotti out one round due to disqualification).

Referee: Rocchi