Udinese-Napoli, Conte: "Match dominated from the beginning"

Udine, 14 December 2024 - In the very short press conference yesterday Antonio Conte had asked for answers to the Napoli after the two defeats against the Lazio which had cost the Coppa Italia and the top of the championship: in the first half the answers are actually given byUdinese, ahead with Thauvin, who confirms in the net yet another penalty saved by Meret, now a specialist. In the second half the music changes thanks to Lukaku, to the own goal of Giannetti encouraged by yet another great initiative by Neres, and to the winning penetration of Anguissa. For the Azzurri, this results in a very important victory and useful to stay in the wake of theAtalanta, the league leaders who in the afternoon had beaten, not without suffering, the Cagliari, thus confirming itself to +2 in the standings.  

Conte's statements

The Salento coach, speaking to the microphones after the match, did not hide his satisfaction for a very important victory. "The result can be confusing, but the truth is that we dominated from the first minute. Therefore, nothing special happened between the first and second half, because we played the game with personality from the beginning, always taking the right path even after conceding a casual goal". Also thanks to a Neres who immediately responded to the first competition as a substitute teacher kvaratskhelia, who could have until the end of the year. "He has been training for a long time and well and so I was confident of his contribution in both phases. For us today he is an important player, but the collective is even more important. We are working hard - continues Tale - and I am lucky to have very dedicated guys at my disposal. We started a long and complex journey months ago that we can only try to shorten through hard work, moving forward on our own path, without thinking about others. The example is today's match: nobody gives you anything for free and what you want you have to go and get".

Runjaic's statements

In fact, theUdinese, especially in the first half, gave practically nothing to the Napoli before the latter's recovery which has nullified all the good work done previously, as stated by Kosta Runjaic. "The initial fraction, in which we also lost an important player like Lovric, whose conditions will be assessed in the next few hours, was very physical. In the second half they raised the pace and quality, confirming themselves as a team worthy of the championship". Despite the good team performance, especially in the first 45', theUdinese it was a bit betrayed by the individuals: it starts from the anonymous competition of Lucca. "It wasn't the ideal match for him, because he had to fight against a very strong defense, but in general I like his personality." It comes to Sanchez, once again relegated to the bench. "I can't say for sure when he'll be back: I can only say that for us it was already important to have him available today".