With this fixture falling between UEFA Champions League quarter-final meetings with AC Milan, Luciano Spalletti shuffled his pack, leaving Victor Osimhen, Piotr Zieliński and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the bench for the visit of relegation-threatened Verona. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Partenopei subsequently appeared disjointed going forward, and desperately struggled to create chances as a result, despite holding the vast majority of possession.
Napoli had the ball in the net inside 20 minutes, after Matteo Politano’s cross was deflected in by a Verona defender, but the goal was chalked off for the interference of a Napoli attacker from an offside position. At the other end, the Gialloblu smelt some unexpected blood, and Kevin Lasagna looked to make the breakthrough with a powerful drive that stung the palms of Alex Meret.
The Partenopei continued to struggle after the break, with full-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo going closest to breaking the deadlock, but his header drifted harmlessly wide. And even with the introduction of the big hitters from the bench, Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipò remained relatively untroubled, as Napoli failed to register a shot on target in the opening 30 minutes of the second half.
As the game reached its final stages, the Napoli chances kept falling to the wrong players, as Di Lorenzo was presented with a chance inside the area only to loft it over the bar. Eventually Osimhen would have a sight at goal, as the Nigerian rifled a volley from the edge of the area against the woodwork, much to the well-beaten Montipò’s relief.
That was as close as the champions-elect would come as they frantically poured forward right up to FT. Despite this disappointment, Spalletti’s men are still just 10 points away from clinching their first Scudetto in 33 years, while Verona now find themselves potentially just one win from escaping the drop zone.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Isak Hien (Hellas Verona)
