Juventus vs. Napoli: Score, Grades and Reaction from Serie A
Juventus continued their warm-up for their Champions League final showdown with Barcelona as they beat Napoli 3-1 in their penultimate fixture in Serie A.
Roberto Pereyra opened the scoring early on before David Lopez replied for Napoli shortly after the restart, but Stefano Sturaro and Simone Pepe struck late on to secure the win for the Old Lady. Meanwhile, in a moment of madness, Miguel Britos headbutted Alvaro Morata in injury time to leave the Azzurri with 10 men at the final whistle.
The defeat means Napoli missed the chance to pull level with Lazio in the race for Champions League football and will have to content themselves with the Europa League next season.
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Knowing a win would have put them in strong contention for a top-three finish, Napoli started with intent, as Dries Mertens was put through by Lorenzo Insigne, but the Belgian could only shoot straight at Gianluigi Buffon.
Juve replied in clinical fashion, however, and broke the deadlock in the 13th minute, as Pereyra latched onto Kingsley Coman's exquisite chipped pass and tucked the ball past Mariano Andujar.
Mertens continued to cause Juve problems, as he attacked down both flanks, and he came close once again when he curled one narrowly over the bar.
The Old Lady responded to the Partenopei's advances by shutting the game down in midfield and dictating the tempo, and went they into half-time 1-0 up as Napoli struggled for incisiveness in the final third.
The Azzurri's hopes of all three points were reignited in the 50th minute, as Kwadwo Asamoah blatantly handled inside the area. Insigne's effort from the penalty spot was stopped excellently by Buffon, but the rebound fell kindly for Lopez, who duly slotted home.
Manolo Gabbiadini's introduction at the break inspired the visitors, and Napoli enjoyed a resurgent spell after the equaliser, forcing some outstanding saves from Buffon, first from a brilliant Lopez volley and then a Marek Hamsik header from the resulting corner.
Juventus punished Napoli's profligacy and showed just why they're Serie A champions, with a goal of outstanding quality. Morata laid the ball off to Sturaro on the edge of the area, and he turned and charged towards goal before striking beautifully into the far corner:
Buffon was again called into action to deny Gabbiadini's close-range header as Napoli grew more and more desperate.
Emotions boiled over as the game reached the dying minutes when Morata exchanged words with Britos, only to receive a headbutt for his troubles:
As football presenter Mina Rzouki notes, the incident left a sour taste in the mouth:
The referee awarded the Bianconeri a penalty as a result, which Pepe duly dispatched to round out the win.
Juventus are now unbeaten in 47 home matches in Serie A, per Squawka:
Grades
| Gianluigi Buffon | 8.6 |
| Simone Padoin | 6.6 |
| Andrea Barzagli | 7.0 |
| Angelo Ogbonna | 7.3 |
| Kwadwo Asamoah | 6.7 |
| Claudio Marchisio | 7.1 |
| Paul Pogba | 7.5 |
| Stefano Sturaro | 8.7 |
| Roberto Pereyra | 7.0 |
| Kingsley Coman | 8.3 |
| Alvaro Morata | 7.8 |
| Leonardo Bonucci (for Barzagli 46') | 6.5 |
| Andrea Pirlo (for Marchisio 71') | 6.7 |
| Simone Pepe (for Pereyra 79') | 6.7 |
| Mariano Andujar | 5.5 |
| Christian Maggio | 6.4 |
| Raul Albiol | 6.3 |
| Miguel Britos | 5.5 |
| Faouzi Ghoulam | 6.3 |
| David Lopez | 8.1 |
| Walter Gargano | 6.4 |
| Jose Callejon | 6.6 |
| Dries Mertens | 8.0 |
| Lorenzo Insigne | 6.2 |
| Gonzalo Higuain | 5.8 |
| Manolo Gabbiadini (for Higuain 46') | 6.0 |
| Marek Hamsik (for Insigne 68') | 6.1 |
| Jorginho (for Gargano 78') | 5.9 |
Reaction
Juventus manager Max Allegri, speaking to Sky Sports Italia (via Football-Italia.net):
"It was a wonderful day of celebration, culminating in a great victory
It was the right way to salute the fans and we are satisfied. The lads proved they want to continue winning and playing good football. We put in a good and intense performance with those who haven’t played as much this season.
We enjoyed ourselves today, especially in the second half. I had fun too!
"
