Napoli v Lazio Live Commentary & Result, 3/3/23, Serie A

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	PTS	Form
1	NAP Napoli	37	27	6	4	75	28	+47	87	D W L W D
2	LAZ Lazio	37	21	8	8	58	30	+28	71	W W D L W
3	INT Internazionale	37	22	3	12	70	42	+28	69	W L W W W
4	MIL Milan	37	19	10	8	61	42	+19	67	W W L W D
5	ATA Atalanta	37	18	7	12	61	46	+15	61	L W L L W
6	ROM Roma	37	17	9	11	48	37	+11	60	L D D L D
7	JUV Juventus	37	21	6	10	55	33	+22	59	L L W W W
8	TOR Torino	37	14	11	12	42	40	+2	53	W D W D W
9	FIO Fiorentina	37	14	11	12	50	42	+8	53	W D W L D
10	MON Monza	37	14	10	13	46	47	-1	52	L W W D D
11	BOL Bologna	37	13	12	12	50	47	+3	51	D W D D L
12	UDI Udinese	37	11	13	13	47	47	0	46	L L L W D
13	SAS Sassuolo	37	12	9	16	46	58	-12	45	D L L D L
14	EMP Empoli	37	10	13	14	37	47	-10	43	D W D W W
15	SAL Salernitana	37	9	15	13	48	60	-12	42	W D W L D
16	LEC Lecce	37	8	12	17	31	43	-12	36	W D D L L
17	SPE Spezia	37	6	13	18	30	60	-30	31	L D W L L
18	VER Hellas Verona	37	7	10	20	30	56	-26	31	D L L W L
19	CRE Cremonese	37	4	12	21	34	69	-35	24	L L L W D
20	SAM Sampdoria	37	3	10	24	24	69	-45	19	D L D L L

That's all for today, goodbye.

Napoli will be looking to get back to winning ways when they travel to Atalanta in Serie A. As for Lazio, their attention switches to the Europa Conference League. They host AZ Alkmaar in their next match.

Vecino scored a stunning goal to shock league leaders Napoli and lift Lazio into third place in Serie A. Breaking the deadlock in the second half, the Uruguay international went close to doing so just five minutes in. Getting onto a cross from Alberto, Vecino's flicked header was cleared off the line by Di Lorenzo. Lobotka, Anguissa, Zielinski and Osimhen failed to hit the target before Lazio found the breakthrough. Failing to clear the ball away, Kvaratskhelia's header fell straight to Vecino, with the midfielder crashing in his effort from the edge of the box. The hosts could have equalised with just 11 minutes to go but were denied by the bar and Provedel. Osimhen powered a header against the woodwork from close range, with the goalkeeper getting down to push away the rebound from Min-Jae.

90' + 6' FULL-TIME: NAPOLI 0-1 LAZIO

A. Marušić

Yellow Card

90' + 4' Marusic is given a yellow card after fouling Simeone with the Argentine breaking away.

K. Zedadka

M. Olivera

90' + 3' Napoli make their final change with just a couple of minutes to go. Zedadka replaces Olivera.

90' + 3' Cancellieri is smart. Unleashed down the right flank, he is up against Min-Jae. Instead of trying to go around the defender and risk losing the ball, he turns back and passes it away.

90' + 1' POST! Lazio almost wraps the game up with a superb free-kick. Curling the ball over the wall, Milinkovic-Savic crashes the outside of the post.

E. Elmas

Yellow Card

89' A tactical foul from Elmas right on the edge of the box. Milinkovic-Savic plays a pass through to Cancellieri who is pulled to the floor.

D. Cataldi

Luis Alberto

88' Lazio make their third change with Sarri looking to slow down the game. Alberto is off with Cataldi coming on.

88' A poor cross from Kvaratskhelia who is not having his best game in a Napoli shirt. Twisting left and right looking to beat Marusic, he curls a cross straight out for a goal-kick.

86' Ndombele has made an immediate impact. Good on the ball, he turns away from two defenders before playing a reverse pass to Kvaratskhelia. He looks to chip it over the Lazio defence, but Osimhen does not make the run.

84' In seven seasonal cup games (Coppa Italia and Champions League), Simeone has scored five goals, two more than he has netted in 14 Serie A appearances this term – he has scored eight league goals against Lazio, his favourite target in the competition.

T. Ndombélé

S. Lobotka

82' Straight swap in the Napoli midfield. Ndombele replaces Lobotka.

G. Simeone

P. Zieliński

82' Napoli are making another two changes with time running out to find an equaliser. Simeone comes on in the attack with Zielinski now off.

M. Cancellieri

M. Zaccagni

82' Both wingers have now been changed for Lazio. Zaccagni is replaced by Cancellieri for the final eight minutes.

79' POST AND SAVE! Napoli have the best chance of the game so far. Kvaratskhelia chips a ball into the box with Osimhen crashing a header off the post. It then rebounds out to Min-Jae who has his shot saved by the goalkeeper.

78' Politano's corner is punched away by the goalkeeper.

76' Elmas is in the middle of the action again, rushing down the middle of the pitch. Carrying the ball from inside the Napoli half, he ignores Politano before shooting over. The referee then determines that it came off Romagnoli and out for a corner.

75' Elmas gives a cheap free-kick away with Napoli advancing. The ball bounces up in front of him, with the substitute controlling it with his arm.

73' Pedro now has his hands in the air and looks to the sky. Rushing behind the Napoli defence, Zaccagni fails to find his run and looks back to recycle the ball.

E. Elmas

A. Zambo Anguissa

71' Former Fulham man Anguissa is also replaced. Elmas is on in his place.

M. Politano

H. Lozano

71' Napoli boss Spalletti has seen enough and has decided to make two substitutions. The first sees Politano replace Lozano on the wing. His last action was having a cross blocked.

69' Lazio have avoided defeat in their last seven matches when scoring the opening goal in Serie A dating back to 4th January 2023 against Lecce (L1-2). Up against the league leaders, the game is far from over.

M. Vecino

Goal

67' GOALLLLLL! WHAT A STRIKE FROM VECINO! 1-0 LAZIO! Meret had no chance of saving that! A cross from the left is knocked into the middle of the pitch by Kvaratskhelia who fails to clear it away. Rushing onto it, Vecino crashes his effort from outside the box into the bottom corner.

65' Strong defending from Marusic. Up against Kvaratskhelia, the Napoli winger gets to the byline and tries to go around the full-back. Getting his body across, Marusic lets it go out for a goal-kick.

V. Osimhen

Yellow Card

63' Osimhen is the first Napoli player to go into the book after a tackle from behind on Alberto.

63' Brilliant defending by Min-Jae. With the ball going into Napoli's box, he gets there before Milinkovic-Savic and calmly plays it back to Meret.

61' Napoli have attempted the last eight shots in this game as Lazio's last shot was taken by Milinkovic-Savic in the 20th minute. The introduction of Pedro has been done to bolster their attack, with Anderson struggling to make an impact.

Pedro

Felipe Anderson

59' Lazio makes the first change. Anderson's 200th appearance for the club comes to an end with Pedro replacing him.

58' WIDE! Di Lorenzo moves down the right flank, playing the ball inside to Osimhen who flicks it into the path of Zielinski. He drives a shot towards the goal, but his effort bounces just wide.

57' From the following free-kick, Kvaratskhelia curls a shot well over with his right foot. He didn't get the dip on the attempt that he was intending to.

55' Alberto crashes into Zielinski just outside the Lazio box, giving away a free-kick in a dangerous position.

53' Osimhen has had two shots so far, but has failed to hit the target with either of them. He has often made a difference for Napoli and has found the net in each of his last eight Serie A matches. He could become the second player in the three points for a win era to score in nine in a row (excluding penalties), after David Trezeguet between October and December 2005.

51' Under pressure from two Lazio defenders, Olivera sets the ball back to Osimhen. On the edge, his effort deflects wide.

50' Lozano dribbles down the right flank, holding onto the ball before chipping it into the box. Marusic heads it away with Osimhen throwing his hands into the air. He wanted the cross to be delivered earlier.

49' After checks from the medical team, Osimhen is back on the pitch.

48' Osimhen is down and is holding his face after colliding with the shoulder of Patric. He needs medical treatment. They both went for the ball with the Napoli man coming off worse.

46' Napoli get the game back under way. Can they break the deadlock or will it be Lazio who scores first?

Napoli started the game slowly before controlling possession. They have passed the ball around well, but have struggled to get into Lazio's box. Every time Lozano and Kvaratskhelia have got on the ball, the opposition have pressed them with two defenders, forcing the wingers to play it back or run inside. As for Lazio, they need to be more effective on the break. Hysaj is trying to make the most of the space that Di Lorenzo is leaving, but has failed to do so thus far.

A clearance on the line by Di Lorenzo means the game is goalless after a first half with little attacking action. Having the better of the opening exchanges, Lazio thought they had taken the lead when Vecino got on the end of Alberto's inswinging cross, only for the Napoli captain to head it off the line. The home side responded well but failed to seriously threaten Provedel. Lobotka, Osimhen and Anguissa failed to test the goalkeeper, with Zielinski drilling an effort straight at the Lazio man.

45' HALF-TIME: NAPOLI 0-0 LAZIO

42' Min-Jae is punished after climbing over Milinkovic-Savic around the halfway line. Free-kick to Lazio.

40' From the following corner, Alberto's deep cross is flicked behind by Meret.

39' Alberto rushes forward with the ball, setting it down the left flank to Zaccagni. With options in the middle, his low cross is turned behind by Di Lorenzo.

38' Anderson takes a shot from a tight angle, drilling the ball straight at Meret from outside the box. It went to his near post, allowing for an easy save.

36' Most of Napoli's attacks have come down the right wing. Lozano and Di Lorenzo have combined well outside the box, but are struggling to find Osimhen in the middle.

34' Lazio have lost their last five Serie A away matches against Napoli and only once in the 21st century have they lost more away games in a row against a single opponent: seven against Inter between 2006 and 2012. They have started this game well and have forced Napoli into taking shots from distance.

32' Patric is now and is holding his face after colliding with Osimhen. The Napoli man wants a free-kick and is unhappy at the Lazio defender's reaction. After attention from the referee, Patric is back on his feet without needing any treatment.

30' A dangerous cross from Lozano evades both Osimhen and Provedel. Kvaratskhelia recovers the ball on the left, setting it back to Lobotka who lashes his strike well over.

28' Lazio have decided not to press Min-Jae or Rrahmani when they have been in possession, instead waiting until one of the full-backs have had the ball further up the pitch.

26' OVER! A quick move from Napoli. Just outside the box, Osimhen flicks the ball back to Anguissa who drives a low shot towards the goal. It deflects off Milinkovic-Savic with the shot looping just over.

24' There is no surprise that the defences have been on top so far. Lazio (four) and Napoli (seven) have conceded the fewest goals in the first half in Serie A this season – Lazio have conceded the fewest in the Big-5 European Leagues in this period

22' Zielinski and Olivera are over the free-kick. The latter takes, playing it short to Osimhen who sees his effort deflect wide. He has now taken 88 shots this season, more than any other player in the Italian Serie A.

Patric

Yellow Card

21' The first yellow card of the game goes to Patric after he collides with Osimhen on the edge of the Lazio box.

19' Lozano does well to win the ball in Lazio's half but rushes his pass to Osimhen with the break on. He puts too much pace on it with it racing under the foot of the striker.

17' Provedel makes his first save of the game, getting low to claim Zielinski's strike from just outside the box.

15' Another poor cross from Napoli. This time Anguissa fails to find a target after unleashing the ball from the edge of the box. It goes past everyone before Kvaratskhelia forces Marusic to clear it away for a throw-in.

13' From a corner, Olivera and Zielinski play a one-two. The latter then looks to send a cross into the box with his left foot, but the ball goes wide of the area and out for a throw-in.

11' Napoli keep trying to go long with their passes, but Lazio have been able to deal with it every time. If they are to succeed, they need to clear it long down the middle of the pitch with Osimhen ready to run behind the defence.

9' Lazio have won their last two Serie A matches and they could go for three victories in a row in the competition for the first time since last October (four in a row back then). They were close to taking the lead through Vecino a few minutes ago.

7' Napoli move into Lazio's half for the first time. Kvaratskhelia moves down the left flank and tries to poke the ball into the box, but puts too much power on it. Goal-kick to Lazio.

5' OFF THE LINE! What a clearance from Di Lorenzo. An inswinging free-kick from Alberto is flicked across the goal by the head of Vecino. It looks to be heading into the net before Di Lorenzo gets back to knock it over the bar.

5' The away side are trying to force their attacks down the left side. Hysaj is pushing high up the pitch and keeps looking to overlap Zaccagni.

3' Lazio are having most of the ball in the opening few minutes and are not getting distracted by the whistling from the home fans.

1' Lazio get this Serie A game under way.

Napoli and Lazio have drawn only one of their last 19 Serie A meetings (1-1 on 5th November 2016): since then, Lazio have won two matches, whilst Napoli have won 10, including each of the last four in a row.

As for Lazio, Sarri makes four alterations to the side that secured all three points against Sampdoria. In the defence, Romagnoli comes in at centre-back with Hysaj starting at left-back. Lazzari is on the bench, with Nicolo Casale out of the squad through suspension. At the heart of the midfield, Vecino replaces Cataldi. The final switch comes on the left wing. Zaccagni is preferred ahead of Pedro.

Napoli make one change to the team that beat Empoli. Sent off in the previous game, Mario Rui is suspended. Olivera takes his place at left-back. Giacomo Raspadori remains out through injury.

LAZIO SUBS: Luis Maximiano, Marius Adamonis, Luca Pellegrini, Marcos Antonio, Pedro, Matteo Cancellieri, Luka Romero, Stefan Radu, Manuel Lazzari, Danilo Cataldi, Mario Gila, Toma Basic, Mohamed Fares.

LAZIO (4-3-3): Ivan Provedel; Adam Marusic, Alessio Romagnoli, Patric, Elseid Hysaj; Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Matias Vecino, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Ciro Immobile, Mattia Zaccagni.

NAPOLI SUBS: Davide Marfella, Pierluigi Gollini, Diego Demme, Juan Jesus, Eljif Elmas, Giovanni Simeone, Bartosz Bereszynski, Matteo Politano, Alessio Zerbin, Karim Zedadka, Leo Ostigard, Gianluca Gaetano, Tanguy Ndombele.

NAPOLI (4-3-3): Alex Meret; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Kim Min-Jae, Mathias Olivera; Andre-Frank Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka, Piotr Zielinski; Hirving Lozano, Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

As for Lazio, they are in the mix to finish in the top four of Serie A for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Back-to-back wins over Salernitana and Sampdoria have seen Maurizio Sarri’s side move above Roma and into fourth place, with the Biancocelesti now only two points behind Milan, who occupy the position above. However, a third straight win in the league will be a tough challenge. Napoli have won 10 of their 11 games at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona this term, drawing the other one.

Napoli have won eight successive games in Serie A and will extend their lead at the top to 21 points with a victory today. Scoring 21 goals in their winning run, manager Luciano Spalletti has also set up a strong defence. Napoli have only conceded twice in the last eight fixtures and will be looking to keep their fifth clean sheet in a row.

Hello and welcome to the live commentary of the Serie A clash between Napoli and Lazio.

Napoli v Lazio Live Commentary, 4/3/23

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