Q&A. Naples and Rome obtain two fundamental victories thus keeping alive the duel for second place, the last one useful for direct qualification to the Champions League. The points of detachment remain 2 just like the days left until the end of the championship: the fight is therefore very open and promises a show with no holds barred. Also because, just as happens in England (yesterday Chelsea gave yet another demonstration), all the teams are playing it with great motivation and sportsmanship, regardless of the goals in the standings.
Genoa and Atalanta have already been safe for some time, yet they faced Rome and Naples to the best of their ability. Two wonderful games came out of it, especially at Marassi, where the Giallorossi had to sweat the proverbial seven shirts to get the 3 points. Decisive, once again, Francesco Totti, author of an almost moving season finale.
Also yesterday Spalletti, along the lines of what has happened recently, placed him in a moment of great difficulty and he, with his Roma one goal down and almost out of the fight in second place, responded in the best possible way. scoring the equalizer punishment which then gave way to the final comeback.
“Totti is a diamond with more than 24 carats, the kind you can't always wear but only on big evenings – commented the Giallorossi coach. – I'm sorry, however, that we always and only talk about him and not about the other guys: Szczesny made a decisive save, Dzeko a super assist and El Shaarawy a great goal. The team played an excellent match and showed an enviable character, as in the entire second round”.
Indeed, reducing Marassi's show to Totti alone would be simplistic, although it is undeniable that it was he, once again, who gave his teammates the decisive shock. Roma had started well, taking the lead after just 6' with Salah, very cool in making the most of Perotti's assist. Shortly after, however, Tachtsidis, one of the many exes in the match, found the equalizer (13') and the Genoese evening took a decidedly rossoblu turn.
In the 66th minute the usual Pavoletti made it 2-1 with a kick like a true striker and the Giallorossi nightmares seemed to come true. But then Totti rose to the chair, with one of the house specialties: free-kick from the edge of the area and 2-2 Roma (77'). The finale offered serial emotions: Strootman came close to overtaking, El Shaarawy found it by making the most of Dzeko's assist, Szczesny sealed the 3-2 with a great save on Capel.
The Giallorossi victory put a lot of pressure on Napoli, who were forced to play looking up at their rivals. But Gonzalo Higuain thought about reassuring everyone, not at all the top scorer in the championship without any discussion. Pipita, without 4 games (but missed 3 due to disqualification), found the goal after just 10' with a nice right-footed volley on an assist from Hamsik, honored yesterday by San Paolo for 400 appearances in the blue shirt.
Napoli played under pace in the first half, also because Reja placed Atalanta in defense of the spaces, however ready to strike at the first useful opportunity. But in the second half, Sarri's men found their usual home verve by building goals in series (sensational those of Hamsik, stopped by the excellent Sportiello and Allan, whose shot hit the crossbar), until they found the right one with the usual, immeasurable , Higuain.
This time the Argentine headed on an assist from Callejon (77'), making the people of San Paolo explode with joy. However, he had to suffer until the end: in the 85th minute, in fact, Albiol deflected a cross from Freuler into his goal, bringing Atalanta back into the match despite him. But the final minutes turned out to be poor in emotion and Napoli thus obtained a very important, not to say fundamental, victory in the race for second place.
“At the beginning we were a bit contracted – commented Sarri (the press blackout is finally over!). – Then luckily we broke up and in the second half we played at our levels. Unfortunately we score less than we create but we were still able to make a great championship. My renewal? We will talk about it at the end…”.
In other words, second place conquered, a sine qua non to avoid tarnishing an important season. And then we will have to wait a little longer, perhaps even for the last day of the championship: Roma, in fact, have no intention of raising the white flag.
