The legend of the "core 'ngrato" strikes again. After Josè Altafini, who scored against Napoli in his first match for Juventus, history repeats itself with Gonzalo Higuain, author of the decisive goal in the 2-1 final at the Stadium. Pipita decided on a very nice and balanced match, reiterating a football rule that is as trivial as it is true: matches are won with champions. And so the Lady takes home a direct confrontation that is not decisive but certainly important, launching yet another signal of strength to the whole championship. Napoli slips to minus 7, Roma, in the best of hypotheses (that is by beating Empoli), will be able to return to minus 2: in short, no one, not even this time, can oust Juventus from their throne. “It's an important victory, we brought home a difficult direct match against a team that plays very well – thought Allegri. – I didn't need to talk to Higuain, I knew he would play a good game and he repaid me with the decisive goal ”. Napoli returns home with the sixth consecutive knockout at the Stadium (a real taboo for the Azzurri) but paradoxically they can also draw something positive from it. Sarri's team played with great personality, put Juve in difficulty, came close to drawing several times and probably deserved it too. However, Higuain made the difference, someone who played in blue last year and who now wears black and white instead.
“He did his job but he remains a boy I am very fond of – commented the Neapolitan coach. – Based on what we saw on the pitch, we didn't deserve the defeat, but unfortunately we conceded two big mistakes and against Juve you end up paying dearly for them". After a very balanced first half, the match literally exploded in the second half. Bonucci took care of "uncorking" it, with the kind collaboration of Ghoulam: the Algerian uncorked a ball by serving, in spite of himself, the assist to the Juventus defender (50'). But Napoli didn't give up and indeed 4 minutes later they found an equalizer with Callejon, served very well by Insigne and equally effective in freezing Buffon from a few steps away (54'). From then on, many chances on both sides, up to the decisive play by Higuain: in the 70th minute, Pipita found a ball rejected by Ghoulam (always him!) on his left foot and threw it at Reina's shoulders, before raising his arms in apology to his old fans. Insigne's attitude at the time of the exchange with Jackets was decidedly less cordial: the Neapolitan forward railed against Sarri for a long time, thus deserving of the rebuke after the game. “When I replace him he just has to shut up – growled the coach. – If there's something to clarify, we'll do it in the next few days”. Those in which Juventus and Napoli will return to thinking about the Champions League, a showcase best glazed by a good match, which is good for the whole image of our football.
