Salernitana came into this clash against the likely champions-elect with grim emotions and rampant uncertainty, having endured a tumultuous week involving an 8-2 thrashing at Atalanta, and the sacking – then subsequent re-hiring – of David Nicola within the space of 48 hours. As a result, I Granata seemed determined to find some sense of stability in this mismatched Campania Derby, and duly began with a solid early set-up, but Napoli's top scorer Osimhen soon illustrated his attacking threat with a low strike that forced Guillermo Ochoa into a reaction save.
In response, Krzysztof Piątek drove into the Napoli penalty area and drilled a powerful shot towards the bottom corner that Alex Meret tipped past the post. Knowing that they had to react quickly to silence the Stadio Arechi faithful, Napoli stepped up a gear and Osimhen fired past Ochoa from a tight angle, but the goal was ruled out for offside. The chance gave Napoli momentum before HT though, and they finally took the lead after Frank Anguissa’s cutback found Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who drilled high past Ochoa for his first Serie A goal since November 2021.
See stats from the match at Flashscore
Striking first was a good omen for Napoli, as they had won 11 of their previous 12 when scoring first in Serie A prior to kick-off. True to form, Gli Azzurri soon assured the travelling contingent that this proud record would become richer still, when they doubled their lead immediately after the break. Eljif Elmas’ curling strike rebounded off the post straight to Osimhen, who tapped in from close range to make it a fourth goalscoring league match in five, and put himself four goals clear of his nearest chasers in the league’s scoring charts.
There ultimately was to be no ‘second coming’ for Nicola, and Salernitana’s best chance of a consolation came when Piątek’s strike was tipped onto the post by Meret with ten minutes to go. Salernitana’s sorry return of just two points in their last seven leaves I Granata with the second-worst points tally in Serie A during this spell. In contrast to their evening’s hosts, Luciano Spalletti and Napoli are walking on air with a 12-point lead as they target a first Scudetto in more than three decades, on the back of their best-ever first half to a 38-game top-flight season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Victor Osimhen (SSC Napoli)
