Napoli-Juve 1-2, ratings: Ronaldo somehow decisive, Insigne almost perfect

Eddie Swain
03 mar 2019

Juventus all but secured their 8th consecutive Scudetto with a 2-1 victory away at Napoli tonight. In a frantic game, with a number of controversial incidents, and chances galore they walked away from the San Paulo with all three points. After a quiet start to game the first major incident, at 25 minutes in, was the one that all but decided the game. Malcuit’s back-pass was woefully short and Ronaldo found himself one-on-one with Meret, who rushed out of his box and took out the Portuguese striker. The 21 year old was shown a straight red card for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity, and from the resultant free kick, Pjanic curled the ball over the wall and into the Napoli net. Napoli briefly rallied after that, with Zielinski hitting the post, but Juve asserted their dominance when they went 2-0 in the 40th minute.

A short corner was crossed into the box by Bernadeschi, who found Emre Can unmarked on the edge of the six yard box, and he comfortably headed home. Pjanic was sent off moments into the second half for a second yellow card, and from that point on Napoli took complete charge.

They had numerous efforts before Insigne’s curled cross was poked home by Callejon. Juventus struggled to hold on to the ball, and found themselves constantly under pressure. Alex Sandro was then very harshly adjudged to have handled a cross that was hit straight at him, and a penalty was awarded after a VAR review. Insigne however wasn’t able to convert and his spot kick hit the post. Tempers flared late on, with both teams picking up numerous bookings, but Juventus held on to take all three points.

Napoli

Meret – 5 - Sent off in 25th minute. Sold awfully short by Malcuit’s back-pass. There seemed to be very little contact but it was naïve to dive in and Ronaldo made the most of the opportunity.

Malcuit –5 - At fault for Meret’s early red card. Played a lazy back-pass which left Meret in all sorts of trouble. Taken off at half time.

Maksimovic – 5.5 - Struggled defensively in the first half. Took one for the team when he was booked for a foul on Bernadeschi, who was breaking. Koulibaly – 6.5 - A classic committed performance from him in the second half, got forward numerous times, and was impressive in the defence.

Hysaj – 6 - Struggled at left back in the first half, he didn’t pick up Can from a corner for Juve’s second goal. Switched to the left side in the second half and looked much better.

Callejon – 7 - Quiet first half, but he popped up in the right place at the right time to tuck home Inisgne’s cross. Replaced in the 78th minute.

Allan – 7 - Got through a lot defensive work in the second half. Almost scored with a long range effort midway through the second period.

Fabian – 7.5 - Involved in everything Napoli did in the second half. Kept finding space and linking the play beautifully. Unlucky not to score when his effort from distance was deflected wide.

Zielinski – 7.5 - Caused constant problems for the Juventus defence who couldn’t pick up his runs from midfield. He hit the post moments after Juve scored, then struck the bar in the second half from a tight angle.

Milik – 5.5 – Sacrificed by Ancelotti in the 27th minute. Hadn’t impacted the game at all before being taken off.

Insigne – 8 - He looked the most likely to make something happen for Napoli in the first half, and then curled in a lovely cross for Callejon’s goal on the hour mark. Had the chance to draw Napoli level from the penalty spot but fired against the post.

Ospina – 6 - Had little chance with either goal, and was a spectator for large periods of the second half.

Mertens – 6 - Didn’t have as much impact as he would have hoped, but his mere presence in the second half seemed to drive Napoli forward.

Ounas – 6 - Looked lively after coming on, got into a couple of good positions but wasn’t able to get his final ball right.

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