Napoli defeated Udinese 4-1 in the sixth round of the 2023-24 Italian Serie A at the Diego Armando Maradona on Monday (June 28).
Piotr Zielinski opened the scoring before Victor Osimhen, Hvitsa Kvarachelia, and Giovanni Simeone struck in quick succession to erase their recent struggles.
However, it was marred by a ‘massive’ concession. In the 35th minute, Lazar Samardzija rendered three Napoli midfielders useless in one fell swoop. 온라인카지노
Samardzija exchanged two-on-one passes with Isaac Succes and evaded a tackle from Leo Østegaard.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo couldn’t get a touch on the ball either, and Natang tried to make a tackle in front of Samardzija, only to be shaken off.
By the time Mario Huyi pounced, it was too late.
Samardzija slotted the ball past goalkeeper Alex Meret and into the back of the net.
In one fell swoop, Napoli’s back six were reduced to rubble.
It’s a testament to the state of Napoli’s defense this season.
Napoli signed Kim Min-jae from Fenerbahçe (Turkkiye) before last season.
It was his debut season in the big leagues, but he anchored the team’s back line with his impeccable defense.
With his strong physicality and great defensive intelligence, he saved Napoli on several occasions.
At the end of the season, he was named Serie A’s best defender, and Napoli won their first league title in 33 years, thanks in large part to his performance.
This summer, Kim left for Bayern Munich.
Napoli brought in Natão, a promising Brazilian central defender from Red Bull Bragançinho (Brazil), to replace Kim.
However, he has yet to make an impact compared to Kim Min-jae. In particular, he gave up the perfect amount of space for Samardzija’s goal.
The win over Udinese gave Napoli three points after four league games.
However, it’s still too early to celebrate. They’re currently fifth in the league, not quite as good as the defending champions.
Kim Min-jae and coach Luciano Spalletti have left their mark.