by our correspondent Andrea Pugliese
November 24, 2024 (changed at 8:03 pm) – NAPOLI
Conte beats his friend Ranieri once again (and it is the ninth in 11 direct comparisons) and regains the top of the table, repelling the assault of Inter, Atalanta and Fiorentina (and waiting for Lazio-Bologna). The decision was made by the former player, Romelu Lukaku, at the beginning of the second half, with the Belgian who up to that point had been among the most disappointing ever. For Ranieri, however, it was a false start, even if the expectations of an immediate result at home to the league leaders were not that great.
density and possession
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Conte finally sends Olivera onto the field, on the eve of a run-off with the former Spinazzola, while Ranieri draws a 4-2-3-1 for the third first Roma in his history which becomes compact in the defensive phase (4-4-1- 1) to defend the fort. Napoli still plays the game, with Roma trying to counter only in the first ten minutes, then lowering their center of gravity and limiting themselves to defending. Conte always looks for width with Kvaratskhelia on one side and Politano on the other, but the Georgian is often readable, while the Roman creates some danger, also because on that side Pisilli gives less assistance to Angelino than El Shaarawy gives to Celik on the right. And if the Azzurri could have gone through immediately (2′) with a close-range header from Kvaratskhelia wasted in the corner, otherwise there is no sign of any major danger. Roma only managed a high shot from Pellegrini from the edge and a central one from outside from Pisilli, but both were unrealistic. Napoli had a couple of dangerous incursions from McTominay, a couple of high attempts from the wingers and another great chance late on again with Kvaratskhelia and again at the far post, with El Shaarawy providential in the save. The real absentees of the first half, however, are perhaps the most awaited men, the two centre-forwards, Lukaku and Dovbyk, who touch few balls and are often out of the game. At half-time Conte’s team recorded 75% ball possession, a shot tally of 10-2 and 7 corners to zero, but without having managed to break the deadlock.
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decide big rom
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And so to give Roma greater security, Ranieri put on Hummels for El Shaarawy at half-time, switching to a three-man defence, with Baldanzi instead taking Pellegrini’s place to give more assistance to Dovbyk. Except that Hummels’ move doesn’t turn out to be successful, given that in the 9th minute Di Lorenzo puts in a nice ball for Lukaku, the German misses the lead and the Belgian center forward unlocks the game. Pisilli gets a yellow which will make him miss Atalanta, Baldanzi wastes from a good position and Dovbyk comes within a whisker of equalizing with a header that hits the crossbar. So Conte runs for cover, also because Kvara is starting to be irritating and changes him with Neres. Roma’s problem, however, is that they are no longer able to build anything and so Napoli tends to control the match, limiting any possible risk to a minimum. The last card for Ranieri is Dybala, with two to go, in the hope that he will pull off some magic, which however doesn’t arrive. Indeed, Neres came close to making it 2-0. Napoli wins, enjoying the solitary top of the table again.
