Max Allegri complimented Napoli for “playing very good football,” but insisted the Juventus victory was “not decisive” for the Scudetto race.
“It is an important result, but is still not a decisive one,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia after a 2-1 success.
“This match was hard-fought, intense and quite balanced, as in the second half we ran a few risks with one-against-one situations. On the (Faouzi) Ghoulam error we took the lead.
Max Allegri complimented Napoli for “playing very good football,” but insisted the Juventus victory was “not decisive” for the Scudetto race.
“It is an important result, but is still not a decisive one,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia after a 2-1 success.
“This match was hard-fought, intense and quite balanced, as in the second half we ran a few risks with one-against-one situations. On the (Faouzi) Ghoulam error we took the lead.
“The game was a little bland in terms of tempo at first, but the intensity stepped up. There were few scoring opportunities, as is natural in these big top of the table matches.
“Jose Callejon always makes that movement round the back of the defenders and we should’ve see him coming, but were caught napping.
“Alex Sandro was like an extra full-back, so we basically played with four when out of possession. We lifted the tempo, Napoli lost intensity and we compliment Napoli for playing very good football. It was certainly a better performance from them than last season.”
Miralem Pjanic was substituted by Claudio Marchisio and the difference was immediately clear.
“Pjanic worked very hard when defending and I think he was a bit short on fuel, so he was fatigued and has been playing a lot lately.
“He had a good pass for Gonzalo Higuain in the first half, he has different characteristics to a classic midfielder, but can improve when he’s sharper and less tired.”
Naturally, Higuain scored the winning goal in his first meeting with former Napoli teammates. He refused to celebrate, but did Pipita let it all out in the locker room?
“Gonzalo has extraordinary qualities and above all works hard for the team. He was very happy, naturally this was a special game for him.
“He made a choice to come here and absolutely should not feel like a traitor. Instead, he made a courageous decision.”