Napoli goes back to winning ways


First win of 2004 for Simoni's men, decisive Zamboni's goal,
Savoldi initially booed and then applauded

Suffered but deserved win for Simoni's men, despite Messina hitting the post
and Di Napoli wasting a couple of goal scoring chances. After a bad and
dreary first half from both teams, with no shots towards the opponent's
goal, the second half saw a lively and willing Napoli, with grit and
character.

In the second half it was Messina who was dangerous first with a free kick
from Parisi that grazed the post at Manitta's right. At the 10° a Zamboni
shot from outside the box was deflected unintentionally by Sesa. At the 15°
is Messina who almost scores with La Vecchia, who receiving the ball on his
own in the penalty area is pipped to it by Tosto, who almost kicks it in his
own net.
At the 26° it is however Napoli who goes in front with a great shot from
Zamboni, who from 25 meters unleashes a shot with his right foot that,
slightly deflected by Aronica, sends Storari the wrong way and ends in the
back of the net. Furious was Messina's reaction, that at the 35° hits the
post with Sosa, who earlier replaced Zoro. Two minutes later Pasino takes a
free kick and sends the ball in the box: Vidigal with a header puts the ball
over the crossbar.
The game ends with Napoli on the attack, taking advantage of the room left
by an unbalanced Messina.

In the end we can say that Zamboni's shot ended up in the net helped by a
lucky deflection, but the "Azzurri" demonstrated that they did want to win
the match. Radical was Napoli's transformation after their goal: the
heartened "azzurri", spurred on also by the crowd support, continued to
attack, but without risking too much in defence, trying to score again and
almost succeeding with Pasino and Savoldi. The fans can finally smile again,
even if the table position remains still dangerous. But this win is very
important to give morale to an environment which is depressed and troubled
by the violent episodes that happened in the past week.

Napoli: Manitta, Bonomi, Carrera, Zamboni, Martinez (19' st Pasino), Vidigal,
Perovic, Bernini, Tosto, Sesa (14' st Savoldi), Dionigi (29' st Del Grosso). A
disposizione: Brivio, Portanova, Marcolin, Montezine Allenatore Simoni.

Messina: Storari, Zoro (29' st Sosa), Fusco, Rezaei, Parisi, La Vecchia, Mamede,
Campolo (19' st Aronica), Giampà (32' st Guzman), Di Napoli, Zaniolo. A
disposizione: Bonnefoi, Accursi, Princivalli, Temelin Allenatore Mutti.

Arbitro: Tombolini di Ancona.
Reti: nel st 26' Zamboni.
Angoli: 3-3.
Recupero: 2'-6'.
Ammoniti: Giampà, Bonomi, Tosto e Mamede per scorrettezze; Dionigi per proteste
Spettatori: 15.000.


Tommy Invorio