Sassuolo v Napoli Live Commentary & Result, 17/2/23, 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	38	22	8	8	60	30	+30	74	W W W D L
3	INT Internazionale	38	23	3	12	71	42	+29	72	W W L 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	FIO Fiorentina	38	15	11	12	53	43	+10	56	W W D W L
9	TOR Torino	38	14	11	13	42	41	+1	53	L W D W 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	38	12	9	17	47	61	-14	45	L D L L D
14	EMP Empoli	38	10	13	15	37	49	-12	43	L D W D W
15	SAL Salernitana	38	9	15	14	48	62	-14	42	L W D W L
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	38	5	12	21	36	69	-33	27	W L L L W
20	SAM Sampdoria	37	3	10	24	24	69	-45	19	D L D L L

That is all from us tonight folks, thanks for joining us. Goodbye!

Sassuolo were always going to be up against it this evening due to Napoli's form, but they will not be panicking at the minute, thanks to their seven-point cushion over 18th-placed Verona. Napoli face Frankfurt in midweek, and they will hope Osimhen can prove his fitness after he limped off towards the end.

Napoli are now 18 points clear at the top of the Serie A table, thanks to goals from Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen. Kvaratskhelia's determined run opened the scoring in the 12th minute, with no Sassuolo player able to stop him from advancing from the halfway line. Osimhen then made it two from the tightest of angles after he and Sassuolo's Lauriente had hit the post. In the second half, both teams had goals disallowed, but Napoli were in cruise control throughout the second 45 minutes. Lauriente's volley was chalked off for offside, as was Simeone's header at the death.

90' + 5' FULL-TIME - SASSUOLO 0-2 NAPOLI.

90' + 4' GOAL DISALLOWED! Simeone nearly put the icing on the cake with the final kick of the match, heading home Lozano's looping cross. After a VAR check, the goal was wiped off the scoreboard, with Lozano deemed to be offside in the build-up. This one will finish 0-2!

90' + 2' The travelling Napoli fans are singing their team home tonight, and rightly so! They are only weeks away from lifting the Serie A title at this rate.

90' Four minutes of stoppage time to come!

88' Osimhen may be watching from the stands now, but his influence was huge tonight. He has attempted 80 shots this season, the joint-highest total in the Serie A alongside Lisandro Martinez.

G. Simeone

V. Osimhen

85' Napoli are taking no risks with Osimhen, with Simeone on for the final 10 minutes.

A. Álvarez

D. Frattesi

85' Frattesi, the leading creative spark in Sassuolo's midfield, gets a well-earned rest. On comes Martinez for the final few minutes.

Pedro Obiang

M. Lopez

85' The same goes for Lopez, who makes way for Obiang.

A. Zerbin

E. Elmas

85' With Elmas on a yellow card, Spalletti takes no chances, with Zerbin on for the final few minutes.

84' An injury issue here for Napoli, with Osimhen limping towards the sideline. Spalletti will hope it is just tiredness rather than a pulled muscle.

M. Lopez

Yellow Card

81' Lopez picks up a yellow card after a reckless challenge on Lobotka.

80' WIDE! Just seconds after stepping off the bench, Ceide nearly pulled a goal back for Sassuolo, but the ball just sailed past the far post!

E. Ceïde

N. Bajrami

79' Bajrami, who has been quiet, is now replaced by Ceide.

K. Thorstvedt

Matheus Henrique

79' A change in midfield for Sassuolo, with Thorstvedt on for Henrique.

H. Lozano

K. Kvaratskhelia

78' Lozano is given 12 minutes to impress, with Kvaratskhelia the one to make way.

T. Ndombélé

A. Zambo Anguissa

78' Spalletti alters his midfield, with Zambo Anguissa replaced by Ndombele.

75' Further subs on their way for both sides by the looks of it.

73' Time is running out for Sassuolo, and they have sadly just been going through the motions in the second half. They have done well to keep the scoreline at 0-2, but they need to do more if they are to have any chance of sharing the points this evening.

71' SIDE NETTING! Osimhen comes within inches of scoring his second goal of the night, but his right-footed shot hit the side of the goal!

69' Nothing comes from the resulting free-kick, with Bajrami firing his effort into the stands.

P. Zieliński

Yellow Card

68' Zielinski is shown a yellow card after a sloppy challenge on Frattesi on the edge of the Napoli box.

66' CHANCE! It remains 0-2, but Sassuolo were unfortunate to not pull a goal back just then. Zortea's cross for Pinamonti was perfect, but the striker headed just past the far near post.

63' His side might be leading the Serie A table by 18 points at the minute, but Spalletti continues to bark instructions at his team. He knows this tie could soon turn on its head if Sassuolo scores the next goal.

61' Spalletti will hope his first sub will spark some life into his team, as they appear to have taken their foot off the gas in the last few minutes.

P. Zieliński

M. Politano

58' Zielinski is introduced, with Politano on in his place.

A. Pinamonti

G. Defrel

57' First a substitution for Sassuolo, as Defrel makes way for Pinamonti.

55' Spalletti looks to be preparing some substitutions, which makes sense, with Napoli due to play Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League next week.

E. Elmas

Yellow Card

53' Elmas earns himself a yellow card after a poor challenge on Laurient.

52' Consigli comes to Sassuolo's aid as he palms Osimhen's shot over the crossbar. The Napoli striker let fly from the edge of the box, but that was a strong save from Sassuolo's number one.

50' MISS! It should be 3-0 to Napoli, but Osimhen, of all people, wastes a one-on-one chance inside the penalty area. Sassuolo goalkeeper, Consigli, rushed off his line to close the angle, but the striker fluffed his lines anyway.

49' BLOCK! Henrique gets in the way of Di Lorenzo's shot and concedes a corner, but that was an interception that had to be made!

48' The second half has started just like the first. Napoli are dictating the pace of the game and enjoying themselves in the process.

46' We are back underway!

Sassuolo may be losing, but they should be confident of causing the league leaders problems in the second 45 minutes. Lauriente had a goal disallowed for offside, and they will hope to use that as motivation at the start of the second half.

Napoli take a two-goal lead into the break thanks to goals from Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen. The opening goal was a moment of real quality from the Napoli winger, as Kvaratskhelia collected the ball near the halfway line before charging to the Sassuolo box and finding the bottom corner. Lauriente thought he had levelled moments later, only for the post to deny him. Osimhen also hit the upright before he found the back of the net from a tight angle.

45' + 2' HALF-TIME - SASSUOLO 0-2 NAPOLI.

45' Two minutes of stoppage time to come...

A. Laurienté

Yellow Card

43' Lauriente shows signs of his frustration after bundling into the back of Di Lorenzo, and he is carded as a result.

41' GOAL DISALLOWED. The home side thought they had pulled a goal back after Lauriente converted Frattesi's looping throughball. He was onside, but Defrel was not. The Sassuolo striker got in the way of Olivera, who tried to clear the ball, and the officials consulted VAR before making their decision.

39' Napoli have showcased once again why they deserve to lead the rest of Serie A tonight. In the first 40 minutes, they have been dominant, confident and, most importantly, clinical.

37' WIDE! Napoli should be three-nil up, but Osimhen misses a header from inside the penalty area. The cross carried plenty of power, but a player of Osimhen's quality should have done better!

35' Osimhen has contributed to goals in his last seven games in the Italian Serie A, scoring nine and claiming one assist.

A. Rrahmani

Assist

33' Just like the first goal, Rrahmani is fortunate to claim the assist, but his looping throughball did put Osimhen into a strong position before he did the rest.

V. Osimhen

Goal

33' GOAAALLLL - SASSUOLO 0-2 NAPOLI - Osimhen gets his goal just minutes after hitting the post. Sassuolo keeper Consigli will not want to see replays of that effort again after he was beaten at his near post by the Napoli forward. The Nigeria international looked to have been forced wide, but he caught Consigli off guard to double Napoli's lead.

30' The crowd are enjoying themselves inside the first 30 minutes, even though the visitors are in the lead. Sassuolo are fighting for every ball, and the home supporters cannot ask any more than that at this stage of the game, considering the gulf in class.

28' Although Sassuolo have hit the post already, Napoli are still in complete control of this fixture, with Napoli goalkeeper Meret yet to make a save.

26' CHANCE! Now it is Napoli's turn to hit the post, and Osimhen wastes a glorious chance to double his team's lead. The powerful forward latched onto a long ball and did everything right until the finish, and Sassuolo were able to clear on the rebound.

24' As we said earlier, that goal from Kvaratskhelia now means Napoli lead the Serie A table by 18 points. An incredible achievement and they are playing like they want to secure the three points before half-time.

22' Kvaratskhelia has now scored the opening goal in four Serie A matches this season.

20' WIDE! Defrel fires wide from inside the penalty area, and it remains 0-1. The Sassuolo striker received the ball from Henrique before turning his marker, but he could not keep his shot on target.

18' To say they are behind, Sassuolo are playing on the front foot and trying to match Napoli in midfield. That may be their downfall as the game progresses, but it makes for interesting viewing.

16' After a slow start from both teams, the goal has perked them both up. Napoli have upped the speed of their play, while Sassuolo are now counter-attacking with more enthusiasm.

14' OFF THE POST! Sassuolo nearly respond immediately, but the near post denies Lauriente. The winger chased down a long ball which looked to be a lost cause, and he deserved to score after such a lung-bursting effort. Sadly the upright came to Napoli's aid, and it remains 0-1.

M. Olivera

Assist

12' Olivera claims the assist, but all of the hard work was done by Kvaratskhelia, who collected possession just inside the Sassuolo half.

K. Kvaratskhelia

Goal

12' GOAAAALLL - SASSUOLO 0-1 NAPOLI - What an effort from Kvaratskhelia, who opens the scoring after a superb solo run. Olivera played a simple pass into his team-mates' feet, but Kvaratskhelia did the rest as he glided towards the Sassuolo box before smashing the ball into the bottom corner.

10' Sassuolo will be pleased with their performance so far in the early stages, but Defrel looks far too isolated in the final third.

8' All in all, it has been a low-key start between the two sides, with neither goalkeeper forced into making a save.

6' Sassuolo's fans have booed and jeered every decision that has gone against them and made as much noise as possible when Napoli have got near their box. It is fair to say they are up for this battle.

3' As expected, Napoli have started better out of the two teams, and they have set a positive tempo in the first few minutes of this match.

1' We are underway!

The two teams are making their way onto the field, with kick-off moments away!

Napoli have lost just one of their last 14 games against Sassuolo in Serie A, with that defeat coming in November 2020.

Sassuolo are still unable to call upon the services of Jeremy Toljan due to a hamstring injury, with Zortea filling in for him at right-back. Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti has given Zielinski a rest as he drops to the bench, while Giacomo Raspadori has the night off ahead of a busy few weeks.

SUBS: Davide Marfella, Pierluigi Gollini, Diego Demme, Juan Jesus, Mario Rui, Hirving Lozano, Giovanni Simeone, Bartosz Bereszynski, Piotr Zielinski, Alessio Zerbin, Karim Zedadka, Leo Ostigard, Gianluca Gaetano, Tanguy Ndombele.

NAPOLI (4-3-3): Alex Meret; Mathias Olivera, Kim Min-Jae, Amir Rrahmani, Giovanni Di Lorenzo; Eljif Elmas, Stanislav Lobotka, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen, Matteo Politano.

SUBS: Gianluca Pegolo, Alessandro Russo, Riccardo Marchizza, Abdou Harroui, Andrea Pinamonti, Domenico Berardi, Agustin Alvarez Martínez, Gian Marco Ferrari, Pedro Obiang, Emil Ceide, Mert Muldur, Luca D'Andrea, Kristian Thorstvedt.

SASSUOLO (4-3-3): Andrea Consigli; Rogerio, Ruan, Martin Erlic, Nadir Zortea; Matheus Henrique, Maxime Lopez, Davide Frattesi; Armand Lauriente, Gregoire Defrel, Nedim Bajrami.

Napoli have also enjoyed a four-match unbeaten run of late, but the league leaders have won all four of their recent Serie A matches against Salernitana, Roma, Spezia, and Cremonese.

Sassuolo will no doubt have to be at their best tonight to secure a result, but they have started to show signs of their true potential after enjoying a four-match unbeaten run. Eye-catching wins over Milan and Atalanta came in between draws to Monza and Udinese.

Good evening and welcome to tonight's live coverage of the Serie A clash between Sassuolo and Napoli. Tonight's visitors will look to extend their lead at the top of the table to five points, while the hosts will hope to move further clear of the relegation zone.

Sassuolo v Napoli Live Commentary, 18/2/23

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