Parma-Napoli Game Review

Napoli fans have a lot to be happy about as they retire for the evening content that the club secured only their third road victory of the season (13th overall victory) in their inaugral return to Serie A. This was Napoli’s best road game since the September 2 2007 massacre in Friuli.

Parma was missing both backliner Fernando Couto and striker Ferreira Reginaldo due to suspensions and Napoli would be without backliner Matteo Contini and midfielder Daniele Pazienza for the same reasons. In a rather surprising move, Napoli manager Edy Reja, unhappy with either Sosa or Calaio as a starter at the striker position, started Serie C1, Napoli original, Mariano Bogliacino alongside of Lavezzi. The Napoli formation appeared to be of a 3-5-1-1 type formation. Way to go Edy for your progression in at least considering to alter that tiresome 3-5-2 formation.

The game proved to be an action packed encounter at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in front of 18,656 fans (seems small considering what the San Paolo draws) that saw the partenopei down the host Parma team 2-1 in a game which included four red cards. The win now gives Napoli 46 points and sole possession of ninth place, four points ahead of Palermo and two points back of Genoa (I’d love to catch Genoa) and five back of Udinese (imagine catching Udinese). Although our boys have been atrocious on the road this year, man did they show up to play today and they totally outclassed and outplayed a Parma team that appears destined for certain relegation. Both teams gave referee Sig Ayroldi a busy afternoon as Parma finished the game with eight players and Napoli was down to ten after all the misconducts. Here is a game synopsis below.

1st Half
It was evident from the get go that the Azzurri were here to play. The midfielders dominated and the likes of Marek Hamsik, Walter Gargano and Manuele Blasi were at their finest, controlling the play, distributing the ball and creating chances. Despite controlling much of the play in the first 20 minutes, Fabiano Santacroce was penalized for bringing down Parma striker Cristiano Lucarelli in the box and Ayroldi awarded Parma the penalty kick. Parma striker, Croatian born Igor Budan took the kick and made no mistake giving the home side the lead. Is it just me or is Iezzo pretty crappy at stopping penalty kicks?

In the 25th minute, Blasi received another yellow card (I think this makes it 14 yellows in total this season); although not news worthy I have started counting Blasi yellows as this guy must be approaching some sort of league record.

Our boys kept on the attack and Bogliacino had a great chance in the 35th minute off of a cross from Lavezzi but he just couldn’t position his body around the Parma defender and get to the ball and put any sort of force in behind it. The partenopei were finally rewarded in the 46th minute when Parma midfielder Mc Donald Mariga took down Daniele Mannini in the box after Mannini’s header from a Hamsik cross went off the cross bar, Mariga had no other choice but to bring him down as a wide open net was waiting for Daniele. Referee Ayroldi not only awarded Napoli a penalty kick but with his yellow card (his second of the game) Mariga was sent off (two yellows equal a red) and Parma were down to ten men. Napoli penalty kick specialist Maurizio Domizzi leveled things up making good on the kick with a perfect shot high on Parma keeper Bucci. The half ended 1-1.

2nd Half
The Napoli second half began with a substitution as Reja inserted Garics in the place of Mirko Savini but our midfielders continued the domination of their opponents. You could sense that this game belonged to us as Lavezzi, Mannini and Garics all missed good opportunities early in the half to put the team ahead. Napoli appeared to be thirsting for the win while Parma, especially down to ten men, appeared to be content to settle for the tie.

Parma did have a decent chance on a free kick in the 15th minute by midfielder Andrea Gasbarroni but Napoli keeper Gennaro Iezzo was up to the challenge. Meanwhile our boys continued on but kudos to Parma keeper Luca Bucci who made some good plays in anticipating Azzurri attacks to keep the score even.

However in the 27th minute newly appointed starting striker/midfielder Bogliacino finally made good on a cross from Hamsik. It marked Bogliacino’s fourth goal of the season (all away from the San Paolo). Parma 1, Napoli 2. Soon after the fireworks started….

Every stoppage in play appeared to start mini disagreements between the players as it began by some questionable tackling on Lavezzi by Parma defender Giulio Falcone. Napoli’s Walter Gargano and Falcone both saw red in the 30th minute and were followed down the tunnel just four minutes later when the hosts were reduced to eight men following Gasbarroni’s gross indiscretion against Garics. Following that play on Garics, Reja snapped and he was sent off as well.

In between the squabbling the entertaining game continued and in the 35th minute Lucarelli had a nice opportunity in close but was denied by Iezzo. To Parma’s credit they still had a lot to play for and they did show some offensive flashes but this game belonged to our boys.

From a statistical standpoint, the numbers indicated that Napoli held the balance of play with 63% ball possession and 60% territorial advantage.

Napoli is winding down the season but here is hoping to another strong peformance in front of their home fans when they face off against a very pesky Siena team next Sunday. FORZA NAPOLI!!!

Category: Team News

Tags: Napoli, Parma, Recap, Team News

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