Sunday’s early fixture saw Napoli dismantle Cagliari, the 3-0 final score hardly representative of the Partenopei’s dominance.

Marek Hamsik opened the scoring, before Dries Mertens was brought down in the box and converted the subsequent penalty. Napoli started the second half strongly, with Kalidou Koulibaly meeting a free kick for his second goal of the season, but with the game in the bag the remaining 40 minutes were largely uncontested.

Sunday’s early fixture saw Napoli dismantle Cagliari, the 3-0 final score hardly representative of the Partenopei’s dominance.

Marek Hamsik opened the scoring, before Dries Mertens was brought down in the box and converted the subsequent penalty. Napoli started the second half strongly, with Kalidou Koulibaly meeting a free kick for his second goal of the season, but with the game in the bag the remaining 40 minutes were largely uncontested.

After an impressive midweek victory over Feyenoord, what did today’s match show us about this ruthless Napoli side?

Words: Gregory Murray

Mertens full circle

It was for last season’s match against Cagliari that Sarri decided to replace injured striker Arkadiusz Milik with Lorenzo Insigne’s understudy. From the moment he stepped onto the pitch Mertens looked comfortable in his new role, scoring a hat trick, and he hasn’t looked back since.

Not only is he averaging a goal per game this season, but the Belgian’s link up play and tireless hassling of the opposition’s defence has made him invaluable for the Partenopei.

He looked no less than his sharp self against Cagliari and surely must have changed his resume to say ‘striker’ instead of ‘winger’ by now?

Hamsik broke his goal drought

Over the summer, when Marek Hamsik’s name was brought up, it was often done so in the context of his opportunity to overtake Diego Maradona as Napoli’s top goalscorer. However, once the season finally got underway, the captain started slowly, perhaps feeling the pressure of being two goals away from the record.

After six games critics were starting to suggest benching the previously un-droppable midfielder, but from the offset against Cagliari the Slovakian looked his former self. A fourth minute goal perhaps settled the nerves, but Hamsik stamped his authority on the game, and pushed for a second goal throughout.

With his drought finally broken, no one would bet against Hamsik not just matching, but beating the Argentinian legend’s record.  

Attacking down the left

Against the Isolani, the majority of Napoli’s forward play came down the left-hand side. With Insigne on the left of the front three, and Hamsik in behind him, much of this is down to the personnel, but there is clearly a tactical element to the decision too.

Due to the vertically challenged nature of their centre forward, Napoli’s aerial threat comes from Callejon on the right flank. As a result there is a clear emphasis on build up play culminating in an inswinging cross from Insigne, or an outswinger from the overlapping full-back.

As Insigne favours cutting inside onto his favoured right foot, Hamsik has been instructed to occupy the space that the native Neapolitan vacates. It was from this area that the captain scored against Cagliari, but the Sardinian side are far from the first side to struggle with Napoli’s overloaded left flank.

Jorginho the metronome

Somewhat overshadowed by the brilliance of Napoli’s front three, their oriundi midfielder has been consistently excelling in the centre of the park. Originally purchased to provide a shield in front of defence, Jorginho has developed his game to provide much, much more.

The midfielder displayed his passing ability with the assist for Koulibaly’s goal, and kept Napoli ticking over throughout the game. It must be becoming harder and harder for Italy CT Ventura to justify not selecting him for the national team.

Squad depth

The only sour note that emerged from Sunday’s fixture was the late injury to Faouzi Ghoulam, who has been a key component to Sarri’s defence. What’s more it raises the question over the coach’s approach to squad rotation.

Other than the previously injured Raul Albiol, the team that started against Cagliari had all played in the week. Whilst five days is more than enough for recovery, this seemed the kind of match in which key players could have been rested. With Mertens the only fit forward in the squad, you would imagine that Sarri would wrap him in cotton wool, rather than fielding for 90 minutes in a match that was effectively over by half time.

Of course, consistency breeds success, however, it would suggest that the coach has limited faith in his reserves.

Bygaby

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