Napoli overtakes Salernitana in extremis. No goals between Genoa and Torino
Napoli-Salernitana 2-1; Genoa-Torino 0-0
In the first advance of the 20th day of Serie A, Napoli, after going into a disadvantage, è managed to overturn the result, in full recovery, with Salernitana and regain the three points that had been missing for six games (Napoli-Cagliari 2-1). In the other match, however, despite numerous chances, Genoa è failed to break through Torino’s defense, ending the match in a draw.
After a good start by Napoli, è Salernitana unblocked the result: on 29' Candreva, from the edge of the area, let off a precise shot on the turn that went into the cross of the posts beating Gollini. At 45' came the hosts’ equalizer: Simeone anticipated Fazio and won a penalty kick, which was validated by VAR. From the penalty spot Politano è deftly beat Ochoa.
In the second half, Mazzarri’s team had the best chances, with Kvaratskhelia and Cajuste coming close to scoring several times. At 72' è again the Georgian to make himself dangerous: on the development of a corner, the number 77 lets off a shot on the turn, which is easily blocked by the Salernitana extreme defender. In the midst of recovery, Ochoa makes a double intervention first on Zerbin and then on Raspadori. In the end, Napoli's forcing was paid off: at 96'Rrhamani turned Demme's bank into the net, giving the three points to the Italian champions.
At "Marassi", the first chance è for Genoa on 5': Gudmundsson, on an assist from Messias, lets off a left-footed shot from a good position that finds a good response from Milinkovic-Savic. On 22' came the second opportunity for the Rossoblù with Malinovsky, who with a shot from distance forced the Granata extreme defender to take refuge in the corner. In the midst of recovery there è the first ring of Torino with Zapata who header just grazes the crossbar.
In the resumption, the inertia of the match è still in favor of Gilardino’s men, who came close to taking the lead within a few minutes with De Winter and Vazquez on a corner kick situation. At 67' came Torino's response with Sanabria who on a dive failed to hit the goal mirror. Despite the final forcing, Genoa could not find the lead goal and closed the match in parity.
With the success achieved, Napoli è moved up to 31 points in the standings just two points behind the fourth place obtained by Fiorentina. Salernitana, on the other hand, remains in last place with 12 points. Thanks to the point won, Torino è moved to 28 points, while the Rossoblù to 22.
