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Juventus scraped past Napoli 4-3 in a topsy-turvy encounter at the Allianz Arena.
The hosts started on the front foot and dominated the ball in the early stages. However, their first goal came courtesy a brisk counter-attack which was finished off by Danilo.
A couple of minutes later, Gonzalo Higuain doubled the Old Lady’s lead. Sami Khedira hit the bar towards the end of the first half but the score remained 2-0 at the break.
Cristiano Ronaldo got in on the goal-scoring act just after the hour mark when his left-footed shot beat Alex Meret. At that point, the game seemed dead and buried.
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Yet, Napoli had other ideas as they conjured an unlikely comeback. Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Hirving Lozano and Kostas Manolas made the net ripple and that set the stage for a grand-stand finish.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Kalidou Koulibaly put through his own net in stoppage time as Juventus kept their 100% record intact.
Here is a look at the talking points from the game:
#5 Juventus run riot on the left flank
Juventus decided to field a 4-3-3 system with Douglas Costa, Higuain and Ronaldo functioning as the front three. The midfield comprised of Blaise Matuidi, Khedira and Miralem Pjanic.
Thus, there was plenty of energy across the offensive and middle third and those attributes came to the fore, especially when the Old Lady attacked down the left flank.
Akin to many an occasion previously, Alex Sandro overlapped brilliantly and that created several instances of numerical superiority. In addition, Ronaldo’s propensity to come in-field and Matuidi’s tendency to drift into the vacated left-sided channel pinned back the visitors. Costa, too, switched flanks at times to influence proceedings.
And, as a result, three of Juventus’ goals came down the left wing.
The opener was scored after Costa scythed through the left flank on the break before teeing up Danilo. In the 19th minute, Matuidi assisted Higuain for the second goal after indulging in one of his trademark midfield runs.
The third goal came about after the hosts worked the ball superbly on the left, with Matuidi releasing Alex Sandro. The Brazilian then pulled the ball back expertly for Ronaldo, who fired home from inside the box.
Throughout the game, the Bianconeri looked threatening in attacking positions and the above even powered them to a 3-0 lead. And, a major chunk of their offensive prowess on the night came down the left flank, where they simply tore Napoli to shreds.
#4 Juventus batter Napoli in the first half
Towards the end of last season, Juventus and Massimiliano Allegri came in for criticism for lacking the fluency synonymous with top-drawer teams across Europe. Moreover, the latter’s departure in the summer prompted several to believe that the Old Lady would start off sluggishly in the 2019-20 season.
However, after dispatching Parma last weekend, the Bianconeri turned the screw against Napoli and they did so in some style.
The first half saw the hosts absolutely pound at the visitors’ defensive door and they breached it twice in the space of three minutes and nineteen seconds.
Yet, Juventus had imposed themselves upon the game much before they made the net bulge.
In the opening minutes, Ronaldo created space for himself and stung Meret’s palms with a left-footed drive.
Thereafter, they controlled possession and starved Napoli of the ball, drawing them out beautifully and ultimately, opening the scoring courtesy the proverbial sucker punch.
The away side committed too many men forward for an offensive corner and Juventus exploited that to the tee. After winning the ball just outside their own penalty box, the hosts raced forward with Douglas Costa leading the charge.
The Brazilian then cut inside in the Napoli penalty box and fed Danilo, who fittingly started the flowing counter-attacking move. The full-back connected decently with his compatriot’s cut-back and beat Meret, although the keeper got his left boot to the shot.
A few minutes later, Higuain popped up with a sublime piece of skill to flummox Koulibaly before firing past the goalkeeper with the outside of his right boot.
Though the Old Lady managed only two goals in the first period, the score-line could’ve painted a much grimmer picture for the visitors.
Khedira was guilty of wasting a gilt-edged opportunity after being set up by Higuain while the German also hit the crossbar with a powerful shot.
At the start of the season, quite a few were sceptical of Juventus’ ability to hit the ground running, especially considering the illness to Maurizio Sarri and the number of new faces in the squad.
Yet, when last year’s runners-up came calling, the Old Lady stood up to the task and produced a scintillating first half display.
#3 Carlo Ancelotti gets his tactics wrong initially before redeeming himself a touch
Carlo Ancelotti sprung a surprise at the start of the game with the way he set up his side. Though the line-up suggested that the visitors were employing a 4-2-3-1 formation, the Italian tactician used the system with a slight variation.
Whenever Napoli had the ball, the shape quickly switched to a back-three with Faouzi Ghoulam and Jose Callejon playing as wing-backs with Di Lorenzo becoming the third centre-back, alongside Manolas and Koulibaly.
Ancelotti also deployed Fabian Ruiz higher up the pitch, in the number 10 role as Piotr Zielinski was tasked with manning the centre of the pitch.
However, the tactics backfired spectacularly with Napoli looking out of their depth in the first period.
On countless occasions, Zielinski’s lack of tactical awareness allowed the likes of Khedira and Matuidi to overrun Napoli’s midfield and that ensured the hosts controlled proceedings.
Moreover, the shunting from a back four to a back three led to numerous indecisive moments with defenders unable to endear themselves adequately to the strategy.
Koulibaly was caught out wide at times while Di Lorenzo was guilty of playing too narrow. Additionally, Callejon failed to track back requisitely, in the process, providing Sandro the necessary space to rampage down the flank.
However, Ancelotti shook things up mid-way through the first half, asking Fabian Ruiz to partner Allan and pushing Zielinski behind the striker.
In the second half, the changes were more extravagant as Mario Rui came on for Ghoulam and Hirving Lozano replaced Lorenzo Insigne.
The substitutions worked a charm as Rui’s defensive stability enabled the away side to stick to a four-man defence and that helped them wrestle control of the game.
Zielinski also enjoyed the increased freedom and roamed into the spaces in between the lines, thereby causing Juventus problems. Lozano got on the score-sheet too and looked sharp during his stint.
Thus, Ancelotti, through the course of the game, showcased his tactical nous to shuffle his pack in order to plug a hole he had himself dug. And, with Napoli going down by the slimmest of margins, one just wonders what could’ve been had the Italian got things right at the outset.
#2 Matthijs De Ligt endures a shocking home debut
Matthijs De Ligt dominated the back pages of the early part of the off-season with plenty of suitors lining up to seal his signature. In the end though, Juventus won that race and tied down the former Ajax skipper to a long-term deal.
Inevitably, the Dutchman had an enormous reputation to live up to. Unfortunately for him though, he did himself no favours with a shocking performance against Napoli on his home debut.
The centre-back started off calmly in the first half and barring a misunderstanding with Leonardo Bonnuci, De Ligt looked largely untroubled.
However, things went rather pear shaped in the second period as he was culpable for each goal the hosts conceded.
For the first goal, he got caught under the ball and was beaten to the free-kick by Manolas, who nodded past Wojciech Szczęsny.
The third goal highlighted a similar deficiency as Di Lorenzo got the better of the Dutchman to score the equaliser.
The most worrying of his mistakes though, was the error he committed for Napoli’s second goal.
Zielinski attracted Bonucci to the ball on the left wing and that left De Ligt to deal with Lozano. However, the Dutchman inexplicably stopped tracking the Mexican’s run, instead contriving to watch the ball as the forward swept home from close range.
Over the past couple of seasons, De Ligt has distinguished himself as arguably the best young centre-back in the world. And, one bad performance ideally shouldn’t impede him in his pursuit of greatness.
Yet, one reckons that the Dutchman might’ve just wanted to enjoy a slightly more cordial home debut.
#1 Napoli shoot themselves in the foot after irresistible comeback
Napoli were thoroughly outplayed in the first half and were lucky to trail by only two goals at the break. However, the tactical changes in the second period meant that they established a foothold in the game and they catapulted an improbable comeback off that platform.
When Ronaldo tripled Juventus’ advantage in the 62nd minute, many believed that the game was beyond the away side’s reach. To put things into perspective, quite a few labelled Manolas’ net-bulger in the 66th minute as being a consolation.
However, they turned the tables on the home side emphatically with a two-goal salvo in the succeeding fifteen minutes.
Lozano halved the deficit eight minutes after the hour mark while Di Lorenzo restored parity with nine minutes of normal time remaining.
Yet, just when it seemed that Napoli had salvaged a draw, they conspired to undo their hard work, gifting Juventus the winner in stoppage time.
Pjanic clipped a seemingly harmless free-kick from the right side and each of the hosts’ attacking players looked off-side. Thus, at that juncture, there seemed to be minimal danger.
However, a moment of madness by Koulibaly, which culminated with him slicing the ball into his own net handed the Bianconeri the match on a platter.
Having said that though, it was a tad ironic that one of Napoli’s most trusted lieutenants was the one who let the match slip from its grasp.
After all, football and irony has developed into quite a love story over the years.
