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Napoli - Operation Domination

Started on 9 April 2014 by Aaron
Latest Reply on 13 August 2014 by Walter
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Diaze, he's 'borrowing' them from Neal's Roma story ;).. Not the best of months, but hopefully you'll improve :D
Very poor run of form, nothing quite like 0 wins in 3 games. However, I'm sure you can make a comeback and return to winning each weekend, especially with Mertens firing as he is!

Stanciu & Fiamozzi join fight for the title


We have finally reached the half way point of the season, and following the recent capture of Juan Jesus we will see two more young prospects join the Partenopei in the race for the Serie A league title.

The first player who will join has already signed his contract and will be revealed in a press conference where there will likely be many journalists for photographs and such, but more importantly the Napoli manager Baggio has shown his intent to connect with the fans by having a public unveiling of Nicusor Stanciu at the Sao paulo.

The attacking midfielder started his career at Unirea Al where he spent five years spanning from 2007 to 2012, making 36 appearances and scoring three goals, he then made a 190K move to FC Vaslui where he then made another 41 appearances only this time scoring two.
He went on to make a move of 850K to Steaua Bucharest where he then really started to develop with five goals, 2 assists and a 7.70 average rating in 16 games. Now, he has finally made a big money move to Napoli for £8M where he will look to get his big break and take on some of the big boys such as Juventus, A.C. Milan and Roma...Where he will face club legends the likes of Pirlo, Totti, and Buffon.

Napoli's next winter signing comes in the form of what seems to be an unneeded right back, with Reviellere and Flanagan it seems Fiamozzi would not be needed but Baggio has still signed the young man. Questions are being asked as to whether Flanagan's loan deal may be terminated this window.

The move is somewhat understandable considering the extremely average performances from Flanagan and Reveillere, plus, Fiamozzi has been known to play at left back on many occasions. Baggio is also rumored to have offered left back Nicola Murru a free way out of Cagliari and still has Dodo on his radar.
*comment*

Dropped points and early departure from cup for Napoli


NAPOLI 2-3p CESENA CALLEJON X2
NAPOLI 1-2 VERONA HIGUAIN
NAPOLI 3-1 GENOA GOMEZ, HIGUAIN, BALANTA
INTER 2-2 NAPOLI HIGUAIN X2

After a recent dip in form, Napoli would face the task of bringing back consistency to the table in their bid for the Serie A title. They sit at the top of the Serie A five points clear of big rivals Juventus and will can not afford too many slip ups in the next few games, or in fact the rest of the season.

But first of all, it would be Cesena to face the Partenopei away from home in the Italian cup. It all started off according to plan for the Azzurri with a cool finish from Callejon two minutes in. Napoli looked ready to score again but were denied many times by the valiant performance of Cesena goalkeeper Camagnolo. Cesena would hit back 4 minutes from half time with a lovely chipped finish from David Succi.

The game lagged on but it Napoli found themselves back on track with another goal from Callejon five minutes from time. But it wasn't all just a walk in the park as David Succi again drew the game level on the 90th minute.

Extra time was upon us, and the first half of the next 30 minutes drew a blank with no goals scored. If it carried on like this, it'd be the lottery of penalties, but one minute into the second half, David Succi completed his hattrick to end a horrible night for the fans and players of Napoli.

It was back to the Serie A, against Verona and Napoli were back with another dreadful performance at home. The place opponents once feared has now become the place it's own, owners fear.

Higuain got his side in front 20 minutes into the game, however the lead lasted all of 3 minutes. Inler gave his 3rd penalty of the season away, and ultimately brought his team back level with the 4th penalty Napoli have conceded all year.

But, every bad streak has to come to an end at some point, and thankfully this streak was only little as Napoli's title challenge could have come out of their grasp at any point so for it to go on any longer, they'd be in dear need of a win.

Once again, Higuain was back on the score sheet getting the first goal of the game for the 2nd time in a row, then Rodrigo made it 2-0. A cushion they have been waiting for since the Roma game. A cushion they could really have done with in previous games.
Genoa got themselves back in it with a goal on 32 minutes but Napoli were ruthless enough to keep them out and get that late 3rd goal from Balanta who volleyed home a Mertens corner, 7 minutes from time.

Now, if Napoli had struggled at home to Verona and Cesena, you'd expect them to be a lot worse away at Inter, but no. Although they shared the points they still put in a great performance as they have done away from home all season against teams such as Roma and Man City. Opposing grounds seem to be their teams worst enemy when it comes to playing Napoli.

For the third time in a row, Higuain broke the deadlock on 34 minutes with a lovely solo goal. The ball was played over the top by Hamsik and the striker touched it down taking on two defenders to give himself an opportunity to score. He took his chance well and dinked it over the top of Handanovic to make it 1-0.

However the lead didn't last long, and Palacio drew the game back level three minutes before the half time whistle was blown. Three minutes after the break, Inter had scored again. A cross was whipped in from Hernanes only to be punched out by Reina, Rolando however was prying on the edge of the box and rammed it home.

Napoli did regain a point, Higuain once again scored the goal late on to equal 6 for the season. Once again another brilliant solo effort taking on two of the Inter Milan defenders and shooting from distance led to an incredible equalizer that earned his team a point.

The second half of the season proving to be really tough for Napoli, however they have found new life in Gonzalo Higuain who has found his shooting boots scoring five in the last six games. Napoli do find themselves somehow six points clear of Juve, but really need to find their feet, before it is too late.

Disappointing month Aaron, two defeats, a draw and a win. It could be worse though, lets hope you can return to good form next month eh?

Revenge for Napoli in potential title decider


It was on a night like this that Napoli fell to the hands of The Old Lady right at the start of the season. Prior to the last game, Napoli were ready to take on their famous rivals away from home after two wins against Inter Milan and Genoa.

It wasn't as straight forward as some may had thought before the game, and the pre-match nerves boiling inside the Azzurri fans minds was rightfully justified after a scruffy goal from Ogbonna early on in the game and a superb free kick just before the half time whistle from Pirlo secured a win for Juventus, and from there, it looked like Juventus would take away momentum and run away with the title.

However, that turned out not to be the case...In fact, far from it. Ever since that game it has been Napoli who have been running away with the title, until just recently. Not so long ago the Partenopei slipped up at home for the first time this season to Bologna, the shock seemed to leave them in awe, and the bad run continued with losses at Cesena, Livorno and Verona. They have since picked up the good form, but could they keep up consistency and get revenge against Juventus?

Juventus, got the game running from kick off, but as expected it was Napoli who started the better side. Juventus were stunned by the early attacking threat of the Azzurri front line and conceded a corner in the 8th minute of the game.
The ball was whipped in by Mertens and a goal mouth scramble was just enough to keep a Higuain header out of the net, but Balanta touched the rebound down and took the ball out to the left side of the box where Vidal completely took the defender out conceding a penalty.

Inler, the usual favorite to take the penalties this time opted not to, instead putting the responsibility in Mertens hands. Mertens stepped up, and struck it home cool as you like into the top of the net. Napoli were now one goal to the good and would be determined to not let it slide.

45 minutes had passed, and one minute of added time was all their was between Napoli and a break from the intense pressure, but that pressure got to someone, and as we have seen so many times, Inler dived in with a vicious tackle on Pirlo, the red card was a certainty and he was sent for an early bath.

Napoli went in to the half time break a man down, there was just 45 minutes left of the game to play, for this one time their defense just had to keep out the second best attack in the league. The ten sky blues walked out on to the field, with no striker. Yes, no Higuain. Baggio had taken him off to put down three defensive midfielders consisting of Behrami, Carvalho and Matuidi.

The game was tense, and nervy for every fan spectating, inside and out of the stadium. Even the neutrals could feel the sense of pressure in what is seen as the biggest game of the season. But Napoli did hold on. They held on to their title, they held on to their pride and most importantly held on to the most important three points they will gain all season. Of course, the title is far from over, and there are still six teams very much within a shout, but Napoli are now considered favorites and it would take something special to slip them up so badly, that they would lose the title.

Going for the catenaccio in the second half to try and pull out the win :))

Well done on a huge victory, keep it up and title is yours!! :D
Aaron's avatar Group Aaron
10 yearsEdited

Napoli maintain the gap despite horrible congestion


PARMA 1-3 NAPOLI HIGUAIN X2 BRITOS
NAPOLI 1-1 CATANIA MERTENS
SASSUOLO 0-1 NAPOLI GOMEZ
NAPOLI 3-2 ATLANTA BALANTA, CALLEJON, HIGUAIN
CAGLIARI 4-1 NAPOLI MERTENS
NAPOLI 3-1 LAZIO MERTENS X2, HIGUAIN

Following what is thought to be the be the biggest win of the season Napoli were cruising to their third Serie A title ever, but from now on it would all be about keeping their cool and carrying on as usual, as they have done all season. They would just need to keep up the pressure on the title favorites Juventus, and it would be theirs.

There were still another 16 games to go and as we know, a lot can happen in just three let alone 16, so they would need to keep up the form with a win at Parma, who already fell victim to Napoli at away at the start of the season.

Napoli were first to react early on, with a goal coming from the quite brilliant Gonzalo Higuain and we had to wait a while for Parma to get one back. 56 minutes in Obi whipped in a cross from the corner and some scruffy defending from the Partenopei was takien advantage of by Paletta who struck the equalizer into the back of the net.

Now although Napoli's attacking threat is potentially the best in the league, the winner came from a defender. Yes, Uruguayan Britos who hasn't played all season did just what Palleta did at the other end taking advantage of the scruffy defending to win the game. Higuain sealed a brace in the 80th minute with a mistake from the Parma back line, he rounded the ball past the keeper and passed the ball into the net to complete a 3-2 win.

But there would be more slip us on the way and this time to Catania. Napoli did strike first through Mertens who has been incredible all season long, he was passed a through ball by Stanciu and he turned it into the near post with a powerful strike. Sebastien Leto then equalized on the stroke of half time, and managed to suffocate the Napoli attack, holding out for a 1-1 draw.

Sassuolo was up next and they would become the next to be put to the sword, although it wasn't the biggest scoreline, Napoli still got the important three points and a long shot from 25 yards Rodrigo Gomez ensured that.

Could anyone bring them to another loss anytime soon, well not quite just yet. When the Partenopei are high on confidence it's very rare that anyone can bring them down, just as Atlanta experienced.

Atlanta pulled off the shock of the day by going 1-0 up four minutes in German Denis, inside 5 minutes only to have the scores leveled by a powerful Balanta header 30 minutes later. Napoli would then score just before the half time whistle taking advantage of the red card shown three minutes earlier to Mario Yepes. Callejon with the goal.

Atlanta managed to tie the scores for the second time in the game with a wonder striker from German Denis, but 10 minutes on from the second Atlanta goal Higuain completed the route smashing in a low cross from Insigne.

Now an overachieving Cagliari would host the Azzurri and pulled off the biggest shock of the season with a colossal 4-1 win. The Rossoblu took the lead on 19 minutes, but took only one more minute for Mertens to bang in the second of the game.

Cagliari though, responded perfectly and ran riot against the sky blues with a headed goal from Adryan, a perfectly executed one on one chance Ibraimi, and a chipped goal from Pinilla who despite his age, is on top, top form.

It was however back to winning ways when Lazio came to the San Paulo, Higuain was put through on goal with only the keeper to beat, he shimmied a little to throw the keeper off balance and tucked it into the near bottom corner.

Then and unnecessary free kick was conceded by Cigarini on the edge of the box, and Mertens stepped up to prove that he was still the main free kick taker at the club despite Insigne's accuracy from the dead ball. Mertens dipped the ball up and over the wall, into the bottom corner to make the score 2-0 just before the break.

After the break Napoli still came out all guns blazing and their possessive attacking football payed off in the 54th minute when Mertens hit a rebounded shot past the Lazio goalkeeper to complete a hard fort win.

Lazio scored 10 minutes later with a free kick Senad Lulic. Unlike Mertens he bent the ball around the wall and into the far top corner gaining a little pride for his team, but it just wasn't enough to break Napoli's nerves, and the three points went to the team at the top.

Doing really well in the league Aaron! Keep going! :)
7 points clear, well done. Surprising to see Cagliari so high
Cagliari, what a result for them :)) Well done, though, your lead is solid. Keep up the consistency and the Scudetto will be coming to Naples!
2014-04-18 11:34#170216 Pauker : he's 'borrowing' them from Neal's Roma story ;)

Maybe you could change it around a bit, put your own spin on it? ;) Other than that I've just caught up Aaron and I'm liking the in depth updates. Keep it up:)
Great work nice head line but you could improve the grpahics and less writing would be great
So far so good, sitting nice in First! Title should be yours :)

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