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MOTD- Napoli 2-0 Juventus

By on March 30, 2014

Napoli rallied past Serie A leaders Juventus in a commanding 2-0 win to technically keep their title hopes alive, but even now still sitting 17 points behind the side they romped past tonight with 7 just seven games left, the Partenopei are simply fighting a battle for second place.  While a two goal victory, which could easily have been a four or five goal win, over a Juventus side that has only allowed one goal in their last six matches, proved that Napoli really should be fighting for the title that Juve have already all but won.

Winning was important, as it has allowed us to lock down third place, but we still won’t give up our fight for the second position in the standings. We must always play well, so we can take great satisfaction.” – Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne

Only five minutes into the match at the San Paolo stadium Napoli stamped their authority all over Juve, as Jose Callejon looked to have surely re-directed Gokhan Inler’s deflected shot into the back of the net from only six yards out. However, Gianluigi Buffon somehow managed to turn around in mid-air and palm the shot away. The Italian international then made another incredible stop to tip Marek Hamsik’s first touch effort from Henrique’s cut-back from the right over the crossbar, but could not stop Napoli from taking the lead thirty-six minutes in. Callejon ghosted in behind the Juve defense, and guided Lorenzo Insigne’s lofted diagonal into the bottom left corner from six yards out.

Napoli continued to push forward, even into the second half, with Faouzi Ghoulam seeing his beautiful free-kick sting the fingertips of the diving Buffon, who pushed the shot away. Yet the home side could not find that crucial winner, and Juve were certainly still in the game. While Andrea Pirlo is often one of the club’s saviors, the midfielder only succeeded in floating a dangerous free-kick miles over the crossbar. Eventually, even though it took them until ten minutes before the end of regulation time, when Dries Mertens held off defenders on the edge of the box prior to blasting a low daisy-cutter into the left bottom corner. Juve still had time to complete a turn-around of at least earn a draw, but the visitors ended up coasting to their first loss in many a week with the title already pretty much in their hands.
Man of the Match: Jose Callejon.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.