October 31, (THEWILL) – In a local derby between Salernitana and Napoli that was marked by red cards and goal-line clearances, the latter came out on top thanks to Piotr Zielinski’s 61st minute goal that keeps Luciano Spalletti’s side top of the table.
The Campania Derby had not been played in Serie A since the 1947/1948 season, and had not been played at all since the Coppa Italia in August 2009.
Napoli star player of the season Victor Osimhen was out with a calf injury and team captain Lorenzo Insigne was sick, giving Dries Mertens and Chucky Lozano a run as joint forwards.
On the side of the hosts, Mamadou Coulibaly, Matteo Ruggeri, Lassana Coulibaly, and Leonardo Capezzi were all unavailable for Salernitana.
In the early exchanges, Piotr Zielinski blasted over, as did Chucky Lozano with a header on Matteo Politano’s cross. Salernitana remained a threat in the first half but Cedric Gondo was just unable to get on the end of two threatening crosses while Federico Bonazzoli challenged David Ospina from distance.
As the game wore on without an opener, Kalidou Koulibaly charged down a Gondo strike after Mario Rui hammered wide from the edge of the box and the goals still did not materialise.
After a frantic play in which Andrea Petagna’s header bounced against the bar, Zielinski managed to wiggle his finish under the goalkeeper from eight yards for the goal that broke the deadlock around the hour mark.
Salernitana’s poor luck continued as Grigorios Kastanos was sent off for a studs-up tackle on Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s ankle. The verdict was originally a yellow, but following the VAR review, it was converted to a red.
The drama did not end there, as when Ribery threaded through for Nwankwo Simy on the counter, the Nigerian striker was hauled back by Koulibaly on the edge of the area, resulting in a clear scoring opportunity and a red card.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo had to make a vital goal-line clearance at the near top corner on the resulting Ribery free kick.
Ospina smothered Strandberg’s corner header, and Eljif Elmas stung Vid Belec’s gloves. However, when Ospina mishandled a cross off Simy’s head in stoppage time, Riccardo Gagliolo blasted the loose ball over the bar, and with that went the final golden chance for the hosts to draw level.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
