Juventus 2-1 Napoli: 5 Hits and Flops as Bianconeri eke out hard-fought win | Serie A 2020-21
Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Paolo Dybala helped Juventus to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Napoli, for whom Lorenzo Insigne netted a late penalty.
In a frantic start to the game, both teams could have opened the scoring in the opening few minutes. However, it was Juventus who broke the deadlock on 13 minutes, thanks to some spectacular work from Federico Chiesa.
The 23-year-old dribbled past three Napoli players before finding Cristiano Ronaldo with an accurate low cross. The Portugal captain atoned for an earlier miss by producing an unerring finish for his 25th league goal of the campaign.
In the second half, Paolo Dybala came off the bench and curled one past Alex Meret, his third Serie A strike of the season, to double Juventus' lead. Just when it looked like Gianluigi Buffon would register another clean sheet, Giorgio Chiellini conceded a penalty.
Lorenzo Insigne stepped up to reduce the arrears on the night. With time running out, the Partonopei poured forward in search of an equaliser, with only some fabulous last-ditch defending by Matthijs de Ligt preventing a goal-bound effort.
Juventus eventually saw out the win to reduce their deficit to league leaders Inter Milan to 12 points after the Nerazzurri had beaten Sassuolo by the same scoreline earlier in the day.
On that note, let's have a look at five hits and flops from either team in the match.
#1 Hit - Federico Chiesa (Juventus)
Federico Chiesa enjoyed a fabulous outing against Napoli. The winger was yet again on the assist charts, as he set up Ronaldo to open the scoring.
Chiesa now has seven assists and as many goals this season as he ended the game with 100% dribbles completed, 11 of 12 duels won and five completed tackles.
The 23-year-old Fiorentina loanee was undoubtedly Juventus' best player on the pitch as he did his burgeoning reputation no harm with a superb performance against Gennaro Gattuso's men.
One of the first names in Andrea Pirlo's starting XI, Chiesa has been one of the few bright sparks for Juventus in an otherwise indifferent campaign in all competitions.
#4 Flop - Dries Mertens (Napoli)
Napoli's talisman Dries Mertens endured an off day against Juventus, as Matthijs de Ligt and Giorgio Chiellini did not allow the Belgian a sniff at goal.
The 33-year-old was kept quiet for most of the game before he was subbed off in the 76th minute.
Despite having 22 touches of the ball, Mertens struggled to conjure anything substantial for the visitors.