First Half
Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo started the chances with a shot from the top of the box that forced Alex Meret into a save. That was answered with a great shot from distance by Allan 10 minutes later at the other end, calling Wojciech Szczesny into action with a great save. But Mattia De Sciglio had a muscular issue and was unable to continue at that point, so Danilo replaced him.
After that substitution, it was all Juve for the first half. Less than 30 seconds after coming on, Danilo opened the scoring from a masterful cross from Douglas Costa. Three minutes later, former Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain turned away from Kalidou Koulibaly and took the shot to score a stunner and bring the hosts up to 2-0.
Trying to rectify things at the other end, Koulibaly went up for a header that Szczesny punched away, only to subsequently elbow Leonardo Bonucci in the face, opening up his cheek. Sami Khedira had a fantastic chance saved by Meret’s elbow, then followed it with another great chance that mercifully hit the crossbar.
Second Half
Carlo Ancelotti made two changes for Napoli at the half, bringing on new Mexican signing Hirving Lozano for Lorenzo Insigne, and Mario Rui to replace Faouzi Ghoulam. Whether it was the fresh legs, the different qualities they brought, or a fierce halftime speech, it’s impossible to say, but Napoli were an entirely different team the second half. And they were doubly blessed that Juventus had some complacency, too.
The half opened up with a Dries Mertens shot that went wide, then Blaise Matuidi answered with a shot for Juve but it was punched away by Meret. Mertens came back again, forcing Szczesny into a breathtaking fingertip save. Then Matuidi sent a ball forward, Douglas Costa sent it across, and Ronaldo slotted it home to make it 3-0 Juventus.
That seemed to be the catalyst, and Kostas Manolas answered with a brilliant header from a Mario Rui cross from a set piece, and Napoli had their first goal. The next one came two minutes later as Lozano scored his debut goal, assisted by Piotr Zielinski. Suddenly, Napoli were back in the match.
It was end to end, shots were traded, and Alex Sandro saw yellow for a desperation foul on Lozano, who was sure to score. But in the 81st minute, it was Giovanni Di Lorenzo who scored the equalizer from a brilliant José Callejón free kick.
Juventus fans were dejected, Napoli fans were celebrating the equaliser as if they had won, but it was in the second minute of stoppage time that heartbreak struck. Koulibaly, Serie A Defender of the Year for last season, reached up to try to clear a Miralem Pjanic ball from distance, and instead, sent it straight into the back of his own net. The own goal gifted all three points to Juventus, who didn’t deserve all three.
Takeaways from the Match
Juventus lost their captain and veteran centre back, Giorgio Chiellini, to a torn cruciate ligament injury in training yesterday. That provided Matthijas de Ligt with his starting spot, but also showed Juve fans why he hadn’t started last week. Juventus’ defence has been their strength for so long, but there will be a learning curve while the 35-year-old Chiellini is out injured.
Juventus should also be concerned with their aptitude for sitting back after grabbing a lead, and it nearly cost them this match. Their depth is still a massive strength, but Maurizio Sarri has some worries as they’ve been showing some cracks since the preseason.
Napoli should be concerned with their timid play in the first half and their lack of character when they were initially down. However, coming back like that shows a strength few teams have. They will need to have more mental consistency, though. Otherwise, they showed they can equal Juve when they choose to.
Stand Out Players
For Juventus, I would choose Costa and Szczesny. Costa nearly had a couple of fantastic goals of his own, as well as the assist on the Ronaldo goal. He was everywhere, always looking to create or take chances, and did very well defensively, as well. Szczesny starts ahead of Buffon for a reason, and it’s not just being 12 years younger, with faster reflexes. Although he ended up conceding three goals, the shot-stopper was tested repeatedly and came up with four massive saves.
Napoli have a lot of talent, but new signing Lozano is very exciting. Not only did he get the goal and attempted a few others, he did more as a sub than some other players did who played all 90 minutes. But once again, some credit has to go to Meret. Going up against world-class players, he made some world-class saves, at only 22 years of age. If this match is any indication, he has a bright future ahead.