Napoli did not equalize with league-leader AC Milan on Sunday evening. The team of the suspended Luciano Spalletti bit itself at home on PhD student Empoli, who stunted by winning 0-1. Patrick Cutrone scored the only goal of the game. AC Milan had already spilled points at Udinese (1-1) on Saturday, so that Napoli had come to the same number of 39 points with a win.
Against the club where Spalletti made his debut as a trainer (and against which he was in the stands due to a suspension), Napoli had a hard time in the opening phase. The visitors pressed gli Azzurri usually back to their own half. The first achievement in the sixth minute came from Empoli: Cutrone aimed just wide of David Ospina’s goal. In the first half hour, Napoli could not do much in return, except for a desperate attempt by Dries Mertens. Without too many highlights from either side (apart from the nasty injury of Piotr Zielinski, who had to leave in the 22nd minute with breathing problems), the game sailed towards halftime, with a 0-0 score on the scoreboard.
Oops, Napoli in trouble! ????
Through the back of Patrick Cutrone’s head they come visitors from Empoli on 1-0 ??#ZiggoSport #SeriesA #NapoliEmpoli pic.twitter.com/TDXsq11fDo— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) December 12, 2021
After the break there was more to enjoy for the public in Naples. In the 51st minute, the accompanying Empoli supporters thought for a moment that Cutrone had put their team ahead, but the one-time Italian international saw his attempt narrowly escape the goal. Not much later, a goal from Juan Jesus also fell through. The Brazilian appeared to score with a chopper, but did so from an offside position. It had been an undeserved lead for Napoli; Cutrone’s goal in the 70th minute was more appropriate.
The plague of the evening for Napoli got the ball from a corner twice on the back of his head and the second time it was hit for the visitors: 0-1. The home team pushed on and tried to equalize as quickly as possible, but didn’t get much further than a series of long shots. PhD student Empoli therefore stunts. The club of head coach Aurelio Andreazzoli was already in eleventh place in the Serie A and now rises to seventh place. Napoli has been sentenced to fourth place by the defeat.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AC Milan | 17 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 39 |
| 2 | Internazionale | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 37 |
| 3 | Atalanta | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 37 |
| 4 | Napoli | 17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 36 |
| 5 | Fiorentina | 17 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 30 |
| 6 | Juventus | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 28 |
| 7 | empoli | 17 | 8 | 2 | 7 | -2 | 26 |
| 8 | AS Roma | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 25 |
| 9 | Lazio | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 25 |
| 10 | Bologna | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | -5 | 24 |
| 11 | Hellas Verona | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 23 |
| 12 | Sassuolo | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 23 |
| 13 | Torino | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 22 |
| 14 | sampdoria | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | -8 | 18 |
| 15 | Udinese | 17 | 3 | 8 | 6 | -6 | 17 |
| 16 | Venice | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | -14 | 16 |
| 17 | special | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | -19 | 12 |
| 18 | Cagliari | 16 | 1 | 7 | 8 | -13 | 10 |
| 19 | Genoa | 17 | 1 | 7 | 9 | -16 | 10 |
| 20 | Salernitana | 17 | 2 | 2 | 13 | -26 | 8 |
Date:Sunday 12 December 2021, 6:00 PM
Stadium:Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (Napoli)
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