Napoli defeat confounds Sarri

By Football Italia staff

Maurizio Sarri still isn’t sure how Napoli lost 4-2 to Roma, but insists “Juventus were the Scudetto favourites throughout.”

The Partenopei are still top of the table, but only by one point and Juve have a game in hand to be played against Atalanta.

“I’ll have to watch the game again, because from the touchline there were many positives. We had 26 shots on goal and 13 on target,” the Coach told Mediaset Premium.

“We have to work out how Roma, who had eight touches in our penalty area throughout the game, managed to score four goals so easily. It’s something we need to look at.

“Our fans know that we are not the strongest club in Italian football, but we’re doing well regardless. I thank them for cheering us on and applauding after the final whistle, as they know we are giving our all.”

Napoli had shown such solid defending of late and won 10 Serie A games in a row, so conceding four goals is remarkable.

“Attacking the space didn’t create problems. We conceded one from distance, but I think conceding the equaliser on a deflection a minute after our goal hit us hard. We were unlucky, but I want to see the match back again, because I got the feeling from the touchline that we had the game completely in hand and were attacking constantly.

“We have to calmly look back and find out why we allowed them so many goals compared to the relatively few times they went anywhere near our penalty area.

“Our defenders did well passing it out from the back, but when it comes to the defending, I need to evaluate how much they were left exposed.”

Juventus snatched a last-gasp winner at Lazio this evening, an hour before the Napoli match kicked off, so was that a psychological blow?

“I don’t know if it influenced us or not. I said weeks ago that playing after Juve every time was not normal, but I won’t have it used as an alibi. We lost tonight because of our errors and Roma’s performance.

“We had the strength to make life difficult for Juventus in the title race, but they were the favourites throughout and that seems pretty obvious to me. We will continue to try to make life difficult for them to the end.”

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