Napoli secure slim win with late Raspadori’s strike against Juventus

Napoli have returned to winning way courtesy of a 2-1 win against Juventus at the Turin Stadium.

Luciano Spalletti’s men have had a successful season in that they have been on top of the Italian Serie A table as they found themselves out of the Coppa Italia and UEFA Champions League.

The game ended dramatically as two Juventus goals were disallowed before Napoli snatched the winner in stoppages with Giacomo Raspadori’s volley.

The Bianconeri had a good week as they qualified for the Europa League semi-finals, while their appeal against the 15-point Serie A penalty was partially accepted, as it was pushed to another trial.

The latest development propelled them into third place behind Lazio with their sight on the upcoming Coppa Italia semi-final with Inter.

Juventus had the first real chance as Juan Cuadrado stung Alex Meret’s gloves.

Napoli got their chance through Tanguy Ndombele, who fired his effort in a frantic opening.

Adrien Rabiot laid down a pass across the face of the goal with nobody to meet it. They have another chance, but Filip Kostic misplaced the pass that eventually sent Arkadiusz Milik clear.

Wojciech Szczesny was called into action as he stopped Kvicha Kvaratskhelia’s free kick from a tricky angle.

After the restart, Napoli would eventually have their first shit on target through Kvaratskhelia, and Manuel Locatelli deflected Ndombele’s shot over the bar. Another Kvara’s shot went over from the edge of the box after Victor Osimhen robbed Locatelli.

Napoli almost opened the goals account through Osimhen. Eljif Elmas combined Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s flying back-heel flick to set up the Nigerian striker, but his finish was deflected inches wide. The resulting corner sees Capocannoniere’s header straight into the arms of Szczesny.

Osimhen fired his effort over the bar after running into another inspired by Di Lorenzo’s assist.

Juventus failed to punish their visitors as Milik failed to make the most of Nicolò Fagioli’s effort after winning back the ball with his high press.

Juventus thought they had finally scored on 82 minutes with Angel Di Maria’s counter-attack deflected off Juan Jesus. The goal was, however, chalked off after a VAR review showed Milik’s foul on Stanislav Lobotka in the build-up.

The Bianconeri scored again in the 90th, but the ball had gone out of play before Federico Chiesa released a pass to Dusan Vlahovic for the tap-in.

Napoli eventually got the maximum points moments later when Eljif Elmas crossed for Giacomo Raspadori at the back post and fired the ball through Szczesny’s legs.