Napoli vs. Roma: Winners and Losers from Serie A Game
Napoli heaped more frustration on Roma this weekend with a comfortable 2-0 victory at the San Paolo thanks to Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon.
The home side responded brilliantly to its disappointing draw away to Atalanta in the last round, while Rudi Garcia's men couldn't keep the momentum going from their own 2-0 victory over Cesena.
Getting over the loss quickly will test the Lupi's character ahead of their midweek trip to Germany to face Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, the triumph lifts Napoli into third place in the league, temporarily at least.
Winners: Juventus
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The to-and-fro at the top of the Serie A table continues. After drawing level on points with Juventus midweek, Roma will have been hoping to keep the pressure on their main rivals with another win against Napoli.
Instead, the Partenopei's comfortable home victory has allowed the Bianconeri to regain the advantage, at least in the short term. If Rafa Benitez's side can play like this more consistently, it could realistically take points from Juve as well when Massimiliano Allegri's side visits the San Paolo in January.
Winner: Kalidou Koulibaly
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No one was more important for Napoli in this game than Kalidou Koulibaly.
The young Frenchman was almost flawless in defence throughout, keeping Francesco Totti and Alessandro Florenzi, in particular, completely isolated for much of the 90 minutes.
Raul Albiol was functional alongside him, and Faouzi Ghoulam deserves credit for helping to contain Florenzi, but what marked Koulibaly out for special praise was that he was also influential going forward.
The 23-year-old, who arrived in Naples from Belgian side KRC Genk in the summer, was instrumental in the Partenopei's incisive counter-attacks. With two assists and a goal in his last eight games, he is proving himself to be a very shrewd addition to Benitez's squad.
Loser: Alessandro Florenzi
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Thanks in large part to an excellent defensive display from Napoli, Alessandro Florenzi was mostly anonymous in this game.
It's been a long time since the young Roman has been so ineffective, although he won't be the only one right now in the Roma camp who knows he could have done better at the San Paolo.
The 23-year-old must put this bad day behind him and focus on the Giallorossi's midweek clash with Bayern Munich. Florenzi's talent is beyond dispute, but if he's to develop into a truly top-class player, he'll need to learn from games like this and find a way to respond positively.
Winner: Jose Callejon
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After "that miss" against Atalanta, Jose Callejon's performance against Roma was the perfect rejoinder.
The Spaniard was a driving force for Napoli throughout this encounter, and though he could have found the net sooner—he hit the woodwork early in the first half—he rounded off a fine performance perfectly with a late strike to seal the win.
Loser: Vasilis Torosidis
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With Vasilis Torosidis, work rate is never in question. Doubts linger about the Greek's real quality, however. Unfortunately, whenever he replaces Maicon in the line-up, Rudi Garcia's side suffers.
Lorenzo Insigne caused the former Olympiacos star plenty of trouble at the back, and he was at fault for Gonzalo Higuain's opener. Going forward, the 29-year-old was nowhere to be seen apart from his blocked shot midway through the first half.
Roma's play was constantly, and predictably, channelled through the middle in this game, and they looked desperate for Maicon's pace and vision on the flank.
Winner: Gonzalo Higuain
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It hasn't been a great start to the season for Napoli's most high-profile player, but Gonzalo Higuain continued his recent improvement against Roma with a brilliant goal and a late assist.
The Argentine now has five goals in his last three games, and if he keeps it up, he'll be a major problem for opposition defences due to play the Partenopei in the coming weeks.
Loser: Rudi Garcia
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The fact that Roma's current form is attracting some criticism is just an illustration of how well Rudi Garcia has done since taking over on the Giallorossi bench. That said, the Frenchman will nonetheless be frustrated by his side's failure to land a blow to a key rival and keep pace with Juventus at the top of the table.
He will also be disappointed by his own failure to find a workable plan B to deal with the pressures of competing in the league and in Europe.
Roma's starting XI is hard to fault, but whenever a key player is missing through injury, suspension or need to be rested, the Lupi struggle.
Kostas Manolas' suspension, Maicon's injuries and the need to give key players like Miralem Pjanic and Daniele De Rossi a break have caused serious problems so far this season, much like the loss of Gervinho did around this time last year.
With Leandro Castan and Kevin Strootman due to return to action soon, Garcia will at least be given two more first-choice options to tinker with. It's also likely that reinforcements will arrive in January. Hopefully, that won't be too late for Roma and their lofty aspirations this term.
Winner: Rafa Benitez
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Despite this result, Napoli are still some way off Roma in terms of overall quality, and it's unlikely that the Partenopei will be challenging Juventus for the Scudetto this season.
Rafa Benitez's side should still be a firm favourite for third, however, and the Spanish coach will be delighted at its recent form.
Having managed just one win from four in their opening league fixtures, as well as being dumped out of the Champions League by Athletic Bilbao, Napoli are now back on track with four wins and two draws in their last six league outings. Callejon is currently the league's capocannoniere, and the aforementioned Higuain has finally started scoring.
Lazio, Milan, Udinese and perhaps even Fiorentina and Inter will all still fancy their chances at getting into the top three, but with the quality at his disposal, this is the minimum level that Benitez needs to stay at if he's to keep his job—and his star players—in Naples for the long term.
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