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VS
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Napoli: De Sanctis, Campagnaro, Cannavarro, Aronica, Maggio, Dzemaili (58’ Gargano), Inler, Dossena (73’ Pandev), Hamsik. Lavezzi, Cavani.
Lazio: Marchetti, Konko (51’ Scaloni), Diakite, Stankevicius, Radu, Brocchi, Ledesma, Lulic, Hernanes (51’ Matuzalem), Sculli (83’ Gonzalez), Cisse.
To grab a point to travel home with from Naples has to be seen as a positive once the season comes to an end and everything is looked back on with the end result in hand. Overall a performance that will not be remembered as any of the stronger games, but also the game where Marchetti must have broken into the hearts of the doubtful.
The game was always going to be a tough one with many important pieces missing for Lazio, while Mazzarri could whoever he wanted apart from Santana. Reja was forced to field Diakite and Stankevicius in the central defence, and Sculli accompanied a lonely Cisse in the other end of the pitch. Since the game held very few surprises through the 90 minutes it has to be stated right away that Napoli tried to create but failed to convert, while Lazio had no intentions of creating on their own tonight.
The first half was a slow and quite uninteresting one. Lazio created the most dangerous chance through Hernanes a little before half time, and it was more than clear that Lazio approached the game with a valuable draw in sight, while Napoli had a hard time getting the tempo up as the team has been away from competitive football for three weeks. No real balls were found inside the penalty area at either end, and Lazio looked more comfortable at the back than one could expect. Ledesma, the skipper of the day, was in charge of the midfield and together with Brocchi they managed to keep the Napoli midfielders from putting too much pressure. After the first 45 minutes the impression was that the game would end a goalless draw, with neither Cavani nor Cisse being able to look dangerous at either end of the pitch, and the creativity missing all through.
In the second half it turned out a different story in one sense, and a similar as the first in another. Napoli created a lot more, and it was obvious Mazzarri had instructed the team to play a more attacking game. Lazio created nothing, and whatever energy there was to invest in the game it was invested to keep Napoli from scoring. An approach that eventually paid off for Reja, but had it not been for Marchetti showing world class goalie skills the tactician would have had to travel back with the first loss in eight games.
Napoli were not at their very best, and Lazio did show the defensive qualities are slowly turning back to what it was last year. Having in mind that three out of four defenders, and the goalkeeper, were all new compared to last season it is comforting to know this defense conceded null times, while last year saw Lazio pick four balls out of the own net. The ability to keep Hamsik, Cavani, Lavezzi, Pandev and Inler from scoring has to be applauded – with Marhetti getting more praise than anyone else.
Without turning this report into a Marchetti-praising pamphlet it has to be said the shot-stopper saved Lazio tonight. Lavezzi tried just after the half, and a few times just before the time was over, but never managed to overcome Marchetti. In injury time Lavezzi fired a well placed shot at goal, but miraculously Marchetti managed to also save this attempt. Campagnaro, Cavani and numerous crosses and corners were all stopped by the superb last outpost, and many of the spectators must have been wondering what it would possibly take to get a goal in this game.
Lazio did try to play the counters in the second half, and Lulic and Cisse did have a few embryos to good attacks created, without the end result threatening De Sanctis at all. As the games was over it was obvious the Lazio players and staff were happier than the Napoli equivalents, with post-match comments from everyone in the biancocelesti underlining the great achievement of at least getting one point from a difficult encounter like this one. With the majority of the games being played on the Sunday Lazio will see themselves on top of the standings for at least some hours, a position that everyone in and around Lazio might have started to look at a little more seriously now that the team managed to keep a clean sheet despite the many injuries (with Konko and Sculli being added today with injuries forcing them to walk off the pitch), and the given hardships of playing a quality side such as Napoli.
Khashayar Kashefi
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Match Summary
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description
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 | Goals |  | Penalty Goals |  | Penalty Missed |  | Yellow Cards |  | Red Cards |  | Yellow-Red Card |  | Substitutions |  | Corners |  | Offside |  | Shots |  | Shots On Target |  | Injury |  | Assist |  | Own Goal |
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Player's Ratings
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Napoli players
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Rating
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| - | - | | - | - | | - | - | | - | - | | - | - | | - | - | | - | - | | - | - | | - | - | | - | - | | - | - | | - | - | | - | - |
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Lazio players
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Rating
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| 1 Federico Marchetti | 7.6 | | 29 Abdoulaye Konko | 5.5 | | 33 Marius Stankevičius | 6.1 | | 21 Mobido Diakite | 6.6 | | 26 Ştefan Radu | 6.2 | | 32 Cristian Brocchi | 6.5 | | 24 Cristian Ledesma | 6.1 | | 19 Senad Lulić | 5.2 | | 8 Hernanes | 5 | | 99 Djibril Cissé | 5.4 | | 77 Giuseppe Sculli | 5.1 | | 5 Lionel Scaloni | 5.9 | | 11 Matuzalém | 5.8 |
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The goalkeeper is now one of Lazio's most important players. A massive performance with several amazing saves.
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Nothing seemed right for Hernanes today. Was taken off at the start of the second half.
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Match Incidents
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Time
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Match Incident
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| 06'' | Djibril Cissé | | 12'' | Blerim Dzemaili | | 14'' | Hugo Campagnaro | | 16'' | Djibril Cissé | | 17'' | Cristian Ledesma | | 28'' | Blerim Dzemaili | | 31'' | Marek Hamsik | | 33'' | Djibril Cissé | | 43'' | Hernanes | | 44'' | Marek Hamsik | | 50'' | Blerim Dzemaili | | 51'' |  Abdoulaye Konko Lionel Scaloni | | 55'' | Djibril Cissé | | 55'' | Christian Maggio | | 55'' | Edinson Cavani | | 59'' | Blerim Dzemaili Walter Gargano | | 64'' | Cristian Ledesma | | 65'' | Giuseppe Sculli | | 68'' | Cristian Ledesma | | 71'' | Hugo Campagnaro | | 73'' | Edinson Cavani | | 73'' | Marek Hamsik | | 74'' | Andrea Dossena Goran Pandev | | 75'' | Ştefan Radu | | 82'' | Walter Gargano | | 84'' | Giuseppe Sculli Álvaro González | | 86'' | Christian Maggio | | 86'' | Edinson Cavani | | 90'' | Walter Gargano | | 90'' | Edinson Cavani | | 90'' | Marius Stankevičius |
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Comments
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| | | | Auronzo confirmed again | | Lazio will return to Auronzo di Cadore this summer for the 6th year in a row. |  |
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| | | | Negotiations to Take Place For Felipe Anderson | | As reported previously on LazioLand.com, Igli Tare is in Brazil and according to Corriere dello Sport, he is there to take home Felipe Anderson. | |
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| | | | Beretta: "Supercoppa in Italy" | | Lega president Maurizio Beretta explains the Supercoppa will be in Italy on 18th August. | |
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| | | | Biglia: "I Was on the Verge of a Crisis" | | Lucas Biglia is expected to arrive in Rome this evening and undergo a medical. The player has told the media that his move to Lazio is motivated by his battle against depression. | |
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| | | | Lotito: "I will not sell Hernanes!" | | As rumours of a transfer to PSG intensify, Lazio President Claudio Lotito has moved quickly to quash reports. Meanwhile, Lazio Director of Sport Igli Tare is believed to be in Brazil. | |
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| | | | Leonardo to meet Lotito | | According to French site mercato365,com, PSG's Leonardo will meet Lotito to discuss Hernanes. | |
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