A place in the quarter finals of the Coppa Italia was the prize up for grabs at the Stadio San Paolo. Napoli came into this game looking to overturn a 2-1 defeat from the first leg. Lazio have been in poor form recently but Edy Reja’s men come off the back of a 5-2 drubbing at the hands of Milan on Sunday so both teams were looking to bounce back.
First-Half
Lazio started the half brightly and straight away Valon Behrami tested the Napoli defence but his shot was charged down by Paolo Cannavaro. Who managed to clear the danger. It was raining heavily in Napoli and the surface made for some fast and flowing football.
The home side settled well and replied to Lazio’s early pressure when on five minutes Emanuele Calaio had the chance to put his team ahead. However the player would want to forget about his finish after he blasted the ball over from close range.
The first twenty minutes were balanced and both sides enjoyed plenty of possession football. Most of the play was dominated around midfield as both teams preferred to hold on to the ball rather than throw caution to the wind.
Lazio created a good opening when Mauri tried a spectacular volley from just outside the box. The player showed great technique but his effort was blocked and the ball fizzled out for a corner.
Lazio took the lead through Behrami with a great left foot strike but it was ruled out for offside. The replay shows that the shot took a deflection off Vignaroli who was in an offside position. Lazio were unhappy but it was the right decision.
Delio Rossi’s men were really applying the pressure on Napoli as they tried to take a lead. On the half hour mark the Biancocelesti were awarded a free kick after Gargano handled the ball on the edge of the box. Cristian Ledesma stepped up and smashed the ball towards goal which deflected off Igli Tare. Only a wonder save from Matteo Gianello prevented his side from going a goal down.
Gianello was proving to be Napoli’s hero, pulling off some wonderful saves. He was standing in for first choice goalkeeper Gennaro Iezzo and was definitely showing Edy Reja his choice to select him was the right one.
The end of the half was a scrappy one as both teams gave away needless free kicks.
Right on the stroke of half time Calaio tried the spectacular overhead kick but the Sicilian’s effort was blocked. That was the last action of the first half as the referee sent the teams to the dressing rooms.
Second-Half
Lazio started the second half where they left off. Napoli were making life hard for themselves by giving away possession and for being static. The Partenopei were not really moving and the visitors clearly had the upper hand.
Napoli showed themselves on 50 minutes when former Chelsea midfielder Samulele Dalla Bona volleyed towards goal from 25 yards. The ball just clipped the post. He was unlucky not to score, Muslera was relieved to see the ball go out as he was well beaten.
On the hour mark Lazio took a well deserved lead. Ledesma crossed from the right and Tare was quickest to react ahead of Cannavaro and the Albanian threw himself at the ball and diverted it into the net. There was a suspicion of offside however replays show the goal was perfectly legitimate.
Reja had seen enough and shuffled things around by bringing on Ezequiel Lavezzi and Garics Gyorgy. The coach also changed formation to a more attacking 3-4-3 as Napoli went in search of the equaliser.
The change prompted the Partenopei to move up a gear and Lavezzi began to show his class but the Argentine striker fired wide from Calaio’s cross. Napoli seemed more dangerous with the introduction of Lavezzi who was pulling all the strings.
Napoli were playing a dangerous game by coming forward, always risking a counter attack by the Aquilotti but they had no choice as they tried to get back into the tie.
Tare almost pounced again. The big centre forward twisted and turned his way past the Napoli defence and struck the ball towards goal, but yet again Gianello was ready with the acrobatics.
Napoli equalised through Domizzi to bring the aggregate score to 3-2 in Lazio’s favour. Only ten minutes remained and tempers started to flare with three players receiving yellow cards in as many minutes.
The Azzurri pushed hard to try and send the game into extra time by creating several chances within the last couple of minutes however luck was against them. Cannavaro rose above everyone in injury time only to see his header fly over the bar. The fourth official indicated three minutes stoppages but Lazio held on to go through to the quater finals.
Teams: NAPOLI (3-5-2) - Gianello - Contini, Domizzi, Cannavaro - Grava, Blasi, Gargano, Dalla Bona (Sosa), Rullo - Zalayeta, Calaiò.
LAZIO (4-4-2) - Muslera - De Silvestri, Siviglia(Stendardo), Cribari, Zauri(Kolorov) - Behrami, Ledesma, Mutarelli (Manfredini), Mauri - Tare, Vignaroli.
Goals: Tare 55 (Lazio) Domizzi 79 (Napoli)
Cards: Gargano, Gianello, Cribari, Stendardo, Calaio, Contini, Ledesma.
Yellow
First-Half
Lazio started the half brightly and straight away Valon Behrami tested the Napoli defence but his shot was charged down by Paolo Cannavaro. Who managed to clear the danger. It was raining heavily in Napoli and the surface made for some fast and flowing football.
The home side settled well and replied to Lazio’s early pressure when on five minutes Emanuele Calaio had the chance to put his team ahead. However the player would want to forget about his finish after he blasted the ball over from close range.
The first twenty minutes were balanced and both sides enjoyed plenty of possession football. Most of the play was dominated around midfield as both teams preferred to hold on to the ball rather than throw caution to the wind.
Lazio created a good opening when Mauri tried a spectacular volley from just outside the box. The player showed great technique but his effort was blocked and the ball fizzled out for a corner.
Lazio took the lead through Behrami with a great left foot strike but it was ruled out for offside. The replay shows that the shot took a deflection off Vignaroli who was in an offside position. Lazio were unhappy but it was the right decision.
Delio Rossi’s men were really applying the pressure on Napoli as they tried to take a lead. On the half hour mark the Biancocelesti were awarded a free kick after Gargano handled the ball on the edge of the box. Cristian Ledesma stepped up and smashed the ball towards goal which deflected off Igli Tare. Only a wonder save from Matteo Gianello prevented his side from going a goal down.
Gianello was proving to be Napoli’s hero, pulling off some wonderful saves. He was standing in for first choice goalkeeper Gennaro Iezzo and was definitely showing Edy Reja his choice to select him was the right one.
The end of the half was a scrappy one as both teams gave away needless free kicks.
Right on the stroke of half time Calaio tried the spectacular overhead kick but the Sicilian’s effort was blocked. That was the last action of the first half as the referee sent the teams to the dressing rooms.
Second-Half
Lazio started the second half where they left off. Napoli were making life hard for themselves by giving away possession and for being static. The Partenopei were not really moving and the visitors clearly had the upper hand.
Napoli showed themselves on 50 minutes when former Chelsea midfielder Samulele Dalla Bona volleyed towards goal from 25 yards. The ball just clipped the post. He was unlucky not to score, Muslera was relieved to see the ball go out as he was well beaten.
On the hour mark Lazio took a well deserved lead. Ledesma crossed from the right and Tare was quickest to react ahead of Cannavaro and the Albanian threw himself at the ball and diverted it into the net. There was a suspicion of offside however replays show the goal was perfectly legitimate.
Reja had seen enough and shuffled things around by bringing on Ezequiel Lavezzi and Garics Gyorgy. The coach also changed formation to a more attacking 3-4-3 as Napoli went in search of the equaliser.
The change prompted the Partenopei to move up a gear and Lavezzi began to show his class but the Argentine striker fired wide from Calaio’s cross. Napoli seemed more dangerous with the introduction of Lavezzi who was pulling all the strings.
Napoli were playing a dangerous game by coming forward, always risking a counter attack by the Aquilotti but they had no choice as they tried to get back into the tie.
Tare almost pounced again. The big centre forward twisted and turned his way past the Napoli defence and struck the ball towards goal, but yet again Gianello was ready with the acrobatics.
Napoli equalised through Domizzi to bring the aggregate score to 3-2 in Lazio’s favour. Only ten minutes remained and tempers started to flare with three players receiving yellow cards in as many minutes.
The Azzurri pushed hard to try and send the game into extra time by creating several chances within the last couple of minutes however luck was against them. Cannavaro rose above everyone in injury time only to see his header fly over the bar. The fourth official indicated three minutes stoppages but Lazio held on to go through to the quater finals.
Teams: NAPOLI (3-5-2) - Gianello - Contini, Domizzi, Cannavaro - Grava, Blasi, Gargano, Dalla Bona (Sosa), Rullo - Zalayeta, Calaiò.
LAZIO (4-4-2) - Muslera - De Silvestri, Siviglia(Stendardo), Cribari, Zauri(Kolorov) - Behrami, Ledesma, Mutarelli (Manfredini), Mauri - Tare, Vignaroli.
Goals: Tare 55 (Lazio) Domizzi 79 (Napoli)
Cards: Gargano, Gianello, Cribari, Stendardo, Calaio, Contini, Ledesma.
Yellow
No comments:
Post a Comment