Napoli put on quite a show at the Stadio San Paolo, but who stole the spotlight against Lazio in our Football Italia player ratings?
Words: Ciro Di Brita – @Ciruzzo36
Pepe Reina – 6
Caught rooted to his line for the cross that lead to Stefan de Vrij’s opener. Had nothing else to do for the rest of the match.
Elseid Hysaj – 6
Napoli put on quite a show at the Stadio San Paolo, but who stole the spotlight against Lazio in our Football Italia player ratings?
Words: Ciro Di Brita – @Ciruzzo36
Pepe Reina – 6
Caught rooted to his line for the cross that lead to Stefan de Vrij’s opener. Had nothing else to do for the rest of the match.
Elseid Hysaj – 6
Caught ball-watching on that cross. Struggled with the flu all week and defensively in the first half, was embarrassed by Milinkovic-Savic on multiple occasions. Improved in the second, presumably once the Lemsip kicked in.
Lorenzo Tonelli – 6
Forgotten man Tonelli hadn’t seen the field since January 2017 and looked well-prepared to step in tonight. Was tight in defence and covered well. Left the ball playing to others.
Kalidou Koulibaly – 6
Left Tonelli picking up two men on the opening goal and was missing the calm reassurance that Raul Albiol normally gives him. Much better in second half when the whole team were on the same hymn sheet.
Mario Rui – 7
Strong in the tackle and tried to get up in support of Lorenzo Insigne, his second half shot was deflected into the net by Piotr Zielinski.
Allan – 6
Battled away as normal but had no real help in the muscle department from his teammates. Lazio’s more physical players made it a difficult night for the Brazilian.
Jorginho – 7
Picked Callejon out with a perfectly lofted ball over the top. Was doubled up on for most of the first half by Lazio, namely Luis Alberto. Tried his best to find pockets of space and found them all in the second half.
Marek Hamsik – 5
Another quiet game by the captain, failed to get involved in the war of attrition in midfield, losing the ball on occasion and even stumbling over when he finally found some space to run into. Replaced at half-time with back pain.
Jose Callejon – 8
Great control and finish for Napoli’s equaliser. Played a lovely cross into the box that Wallace had no other option than to put it into his own net.
Dries Mertens – 7
The Belgian striker failed to hold the ball up or to link up with any of his teammates in the first half, but finished off the move of the game when he scored the fourth goal.
Lorenzo Insigne – 7
Went close with some spectacularly hit shots, but none of them were on target. Kept his side driving forward and never shirked his responsibility when wearing the captain’s armband.
Substitutes:
Piotr Zielinski – 7
Came on for Hamsik at halftime and unwittingly deflected Mario Rui’s shot past Thomas Strakosha. Played Merten’s in beautifully for the fourth goal.
Marko Rog – 6
Got a few minutes at the end to bring some fresh legs on.
Christian Maggio – N/A
Replaced Callejon at the death.