By: Mostafa

In 2015, they scored a winner in the final minutes on the first day of the Sarri era. In 2017, they halted us on our chase to 2nd place, tying 2-2, clearing a goal bound clearance in the final minute of the game. In 2018, they took two valuable points from us in our bid to win our first title in decades, tying 1-1. Nine months ago, they shared the spoils with us once again, seemingly for fun at this point.

They can’t say they didn’t have it coming.

After a wait that felt two centuries, not two months, Napoli finally got their first win in Serie A. In typical dramatic fashion, the curse was broken with the last kick of the match in a ground which we had not won in for four years. Below are five talking points from the match.

Home Alone Nightmares

In all honesty I did not see the first half of football yesterday, but I was told by numerous friends that it was the worst half of football played by Napoli since their promotion to Serie A. After looking at the stats and watching the highlights, I am thankful for the fact that I missed it.

The team was lucky to go in only one goal behind at the break. It could have been easily three goals. Slow starts have been something of a norm for this team this season, one of many bad habits the team has surreptitiously formed. Thankfully, however, football is a game of two halves…

Fragile Midfield

In his first real match in charge, Gattuso opted to put Fabian Ruiz as a regista, playing Allan in his normal box to box position on the right of a midfield 4-3-3. Zielnski supported the pair on the left of a 4-3-3, meaning two out of the three players were playing in their normal positions. It was a new experiment, but one based on logical thinking, a calculated risk worth taking. How bad could it turn out to be?

Terribly bad. As bad as it could possibly get.

In all fairness, this was a new position for Ruiz. My main issue with his performance wasn’t that he played badly, it was that he didn’t play at all. Sassuolo’s players ran by him as if he didn’t exist. When he crossed the midfield, he made strange decisions for any football player, not only a regista.

In 21 matches this season, Fabian Ruiz has scored one goal and assisted two others. In 22 matches, Zielinski has matched Ruiz’s record. Between them, in 43 matches of football, the two midfielders have two goals and four assists. It does not make for light reading.

Statistics aren’t everything, but they can serve as useful indicators to what is working and what isn’t. Our midfield, for one reason or another, is not working in any capacity whatsoever. It hasn’t all season, and didn’t yesterday, until the 70th minute, when Gattuso decided to put his first stamp on the match.

Super Subs

Elmas entered in the 70th minute for Ruiz. Ruiz exited the field, angrily kicking the bench, the only thing he successfully kicked all night long. Barely two minutes later, Elmas kicked out at one of Sassuolo’s players, halting a dangerous counter-attack, earning a yellow card in the process. He glared at the referee, glared at everyone around him, and then sprinted off the second the foul was played. There was a new sheriff in town.

Mertens entered seven minutes later, and suddenly, for the first time in months, it felt the old Napoli was back. A superb free kick was blocked, a goal was disallowed with the smallest of margins, another goal was cleared off the line, and Mertens had a top corner finish that whistled inches past the post. Within ten minutes, the Fear Factor of old was back. The team was complete shambles at the back, but at this point, it made no difference; a tie was just as bad as losing. It was all or nothing now.

The Corner

Given the late goals we have conceded this season, part of me expected the worst when we earned a corner in the ninety fourth minute of the match. I need not have worried. Not one bit.

Sometimes football transcends the football pitch. Certain memories or matches can keep you happy for years. Five years ago, against Juve, we won a Supercoppa match in the most dramatic fashion, and years later I remember this day as one of the best in my life. There are some moments that cannot be measured in points or trophies. Sometimes, life works.

Everything hasn’t been solved, but we can enter Christmas with smiles on our faces, with three points in the bag. Hopefully the corner will have served as a turned corner, but all puns aside, there is still a long road of redemption ahead of us. Forget fourth place and forget Barcelona. The players need to take games as they come, one at a time. As for ADL, a new year is upon us…

Happy New Year

Contracts need to be sorted. Signings are needed. A club owned Stadium is needed. A proper marketing team is needed. A solid plan is needed to land the scudetto in Naples, preferably not one built on buying twenty-year-old players and selling them three years later for a 4 million Euro profit to Verona or Parma.

In the meantime, though, enjoy your holidays as much as you can. When we’re back… well, we’ll worry about it later.