Napoli-Juventus 2-1, Anguissa and Lukaku come back against the Old Lady. First defeat for the Bianconeri

Naples, 25 January 2025 - Golden success for the Napoli against Juventus. It's too early to say if this is a Scudetto coup, but what is certain is that the Campanians are taking an important step forward in view of the Tricolore. The Old Lady, who took the lead at the end of the first half with the debutant's goal kolo muani, is overtaken in the second half and bows down 2-1. The decisive goals are signed by Anguissa e Lukaku. For the Piedmontese, this is the first defeat in the championship, while the Neapolitans rise to 53 points in the standings, temporarily taking them to +6 on Inter. The Bianconeri remain fifth, but risk seeing fourth place slip away. 

Juventus report cards by Doriano Rabotti

The choices of the coaches

Napoli (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Spinazzola; Anguissa, Lobotka, McTominay; Politano, Lukaku, Neres. Coach Conte. 

Juventus (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio; McKennie, Gatti, Kalulu, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Yildiz, Koopmeiners, Gonzalez; Kolo Muani. Coach Thiago Motta. 

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First half

The predictions of the day before were met, with Kolo Muani making his debut in black and white from the 1st minute. The teams were aggressive right from the start, with Juventus one step away from the lead: in the 6th minute Cambiaso recovered the ball, then Thuram served a very inviting ball to Yildiz, who was sensationally blocked by Meret. The guests played the game with their classic possession, but the Azzurri certainly didn't sit back and watch and to try to hurt the opposing defense they mainly relied on the wings. It was precisely from an action on the outside that the first chance for Conte's men arose: in the 20th minute Di Lorenzo looked for Lukaku in the middle, Gatti blocked it, but the ball reached Politano, who from outside the area narrowly missed the target. The same fate happened in the 29th minute for Nico Gonzalez's left-footed shot from distance and for Anguissa's header in the 40th minute. Three minutes later Madama broke the deadlock: a Piedmontese move near the Neapolitan area ended with an involuntary deflection by Anguissa who freed kolo muani, with the Frenchman who does not forgive Meret on the turn. The locals' response is immediate: Politano's free kick ends high. It is the last emotion of the opening half, which thus ends at 0-1. 

Second half

The second half begins with a golden opportunity for Lukaku: the former Inter player heads the ball in from a very close range in the 50th minute, but Di Gregorio is phenomenal in telling him "no". The Juventus goalkeeper, however, can do nothing six minutes later on the header from Anguissa, served by Politano's cross. The equaliser was the icing on the cake of a great start to the second half by Napoli, which forced Madama to lower their centre of gravity. In the 62nd minute, Cambiaso made a decisive intervention on Politano's left-footed shot. First changes for Thiago Motta, who brought on Savona and Mbangula for Cambiaso and Yildiz. In the 68th minute, the match experienced another important turning point: Lukaku passed to McTominay, who was brought down by Locatelli in the opponent's area. Chiffi he whistles for a penalty, which is converted by Lukaku. Thiago Motta immediately takes cover by sending Conceicao on for Nico Gonzalez and Douglas Luiz for Locatelli. Shortly after, Vlahovic also comes on for Kolo Muani, while on the other side Politano is out, replaced by Mazzocchi. Juventus does not seem capable of scaring Meret and in the meantime Conte also relies on Gilmour and Simeone (Lobotka and Lukaku are out). The locals have no problem defending their lead and in fact, they are the ones who come close to scoring again. After five minutes of injury time, the "Maradona" can celebrate the victory of their favorites. 

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