Report: Juventus 3 Napoli 0
In spite of a missed penalty by Zinedine Zidane, Juventus got their title
hopes back on track with a convincing win over Napoli at the Delle Alpi,
thanks to goals from Darko Kovacevic, Filippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Del
Piero.
The Turin giants needed to bounce back after suffering only their second
defeat of the season at the hands of Atalanta last Saturday and to fend off
the challenge of third-placed Lazio. And they closed the gap on leaders Roma
to six points in style before their delighted home supporters.
The match kicked off with Alessio Tacchinardi firing in an early shot to
warm up Alberto Fontana in the Napoli goal and Filippo Inzaghi following
suit shortly afterwards with a snap-shot that was too central to seriously
trouble the 34-year-old.
But Napoli looked as though they had taken a shock lead through Juve old
boy, Nicola Amoruso, in the ninth minute. However, after despatching Dario
Baccin's through-ball past Edwin van der Sar, the striker's effort was ruled
out for offside.
Three minutes later the tables were turned, as Juventus took the lead. The
excellent Zidane left a string of defenders trailing in his wake before
chipping a deft cross onto the head of Kovacevic who had the simple task of
heading into an unguarded net.
Amoruso tried his luck again on 19 minutes with a volley from the edge of
the box, but his effort was immediately crowded out the diligent defence,
who put in a superb evening's work.
By contrast Napoli's defending was comical at times, as they gave away
needless free-kicks and corners. From one Zidane free-kick, Ciro Ferrara
attempted a bicycle kick but his acrobatics only served to send the ball
well wide.
The Napoli rearguard seemed almost hypnotized by Juventus' forwards and
Emiliano Mondonico's men were lucky to get away with a strong penalty claim
after another hashed clearance resulted in Inzaghi going down under a clumsy
challenge by Salvatore Fresi.
The home side wasted another chance when Matteo Brighi burst forward in the
37th minute. But the defender elected to cross rather than shoot and,
although seconds later he managed to pick out Zidane, somehow Fontana clawed
away the Frenchman's header and smothered it at the second attempt.
Juventus started the second half with the same intensity as the first and
they doubled their lead in the 52nd minute, when Inzaghi pounced to head
home from close range, after Fontana had kept out Kovacevic's shot.
Four minutes later Zidane had the chance to make the game safe from the
penalty spot after Francesco Baldini bundled Inzaghi to ground. But the
France international's shot lacked power and Fontana guessed right to keep
the score at 2-0.
Del Piero was brought on with 24 minutes to go, after Kovacevic was forced
to leave the pitch with a broken nose following an aeriel clash with
Baldini.
And the substitute came close to scoring with a header in the 73rd minute,
after Alessandro Birindelli picked him out with a left-wing cross. Fontana,
though, sprung to his right and somehow kept the ball out.
Edmundo, who was largely inconspicious throughout the game, had a chance to
haul the visitors back into the game with 12 minutes left, when Claudio
Bellucci found the former Fiorentina forward unmarked in the area. But Van
der Sar was equal to the Brazilian's shot.
Five minutes from time, Juventus capped a majestic performance with a third
goal, courtesy of a trademark Del
Piero free-kick from the left edge of the area.
In truth Fontana should have kept it out, as the ball sneaked inside his
near post, but Del Piero won't mind too much about that, considering that -
penalties apart - he hadn't scored since the opening game of the season -
strangely enough, also against Napoli.
Juventus: Van Der Sar, Birindelli, Ferrara, Tudor, Pessotto, Zambrotta,
Tacchinardi, Brighi (Paramatti 79), Montero 85), Zidane, F Inzaghi,
Kovacevic (Del Piero 66)
Napoli: Fontana, Baldini, Fresi, Quiroga, Saber, Pecchia (Sesa 57),
Matuzalem (Jankulovski 75), Magoni, Baccin, Edmundo, Amoruso (Bellucci 46).
Booked: Matuzalem, Pecchia (Napoli); Pessotto (Juventus)
Referee: Borriello (Mantova)
