Massa's final whistle, at 50 ', is a liberation. Napoli is in the Italian Cup semifinal and San Paolo sings as it always did in important moments. This time Lorenzo Insigne has put his heart into it, and with him the whole team, even if there is still someone (Zielinski) who is not in the best condition. But a result was needed and Napoli got it, against a Lazio that never accepted the surrender. Indeed, in the final minutes he hit two poles. The race was exciting and the result was in play until the last moment. Simone Inzaghi will have to complain for the penalty missed by Ciro Immobile, but his Lazio is there and is ready for Sunday's derby.
NEW MIDFIELD - Find the courage to change, Rino Gattuso. For the match against Lazio, he leaves out Fabian Ruiz, one of the worst in recent months, to make room for Stanislav Lobotka who makes his debut with the blue shirt. And for the first time, a midfield trident formed by ex Celta Vigo, Demme and Zielinski is also deployed. An absolute novelty, also favored by Allan's injury. Simone Inzaghi, however, does not want to miss anything, who lines up the starting lineup, confirming Caicedo alongside Immobile, in attack, while Correa is on the bench. Lazio is the holder of the title and does not want to disfigure.
HEART INSIGNE - There is a need for the shock to bring this Naples up. And the beginning of the race gives the right impression: the team wants to react. In fact, just two minutes pass and Zielinski launches the shot of Insigne, the captain enters the area, dribbles Luis Felipe and flat puts behind Strakosha. The San Paolo is celebrating again, because the organized groups have returned in the two corners, after the controversies of the last few weeks regarding safety and the cheering is felt. But from enthusiasm to despair, the thread is thin, because on the 8th minute, Hysaj fouls Caicedo and Massa blows the penalty. Ciro Immobile goes to the bar but, in the moment of kicking, he slips and the ball ends up to the side. Danger escaped, therefore, but the emotions follow one another, because Hysaj himself commits a new foul at 19 ', this time on Immobile, and for him there is the second yellow and, therefore, the red.
LUPERTO IN - In numerical inferiority, Gattuso pulls out Lobotka and inserts Luperto, a defender, and Napoli goes to 4-4-1. At 25 ', the referee Massa makes a clear mistake. Leiva interrupts Zielinski's run by clearly touching the ball, the referee whistles the foul, which is not there, and warns the Lazio player, whose blatant reaction is probably offensive, enough to force him to direct red. Thus equality in the field is restored. But the game does not offer great ideas, Lazio is tense in attack, while Napoli controls in their own half, where Diego Demme proves to be an honest worker in the midfield, chasing opponents and trying to give some order to the action .
NAPOLI CHECK - The second half opens with a kick from Milik, trimmed to Strakosha at the exit. Massa does not think he can warn the Napoli center forward. Inzaghi tries to liven up the offensive game by calling Caicedo (9 ') on the bench and placing Correa. Lazio pushes in search of a draw and exposes themselves to the opponents' restarts, which are convinced they have very little. The impression is that Napoli wants to control the result, also because Inzaghi's men push a lot, but conclude little and badly. Just as happens at 16 'when Immobile hits the plate, sending the corner of Correa out of the net. At 18 ', Lazio find the tie with Immobile, but Massa cancels for the off-white player's evident offside position. Gattuso recalls Callejon and inserts Elmas (23 ') to help the midfielders. Zielinski is stuck on his legs, he's wrong a lot.
OCCASIONS - In a throw-in, Demme crosses for Milik's header, Strakosha flies and deflects the ball on the post. At the end of the race Immobile breaks the crossbar with a great right (39 '), while a minute later it's up to Mario Rui to hit the post to the left of Starkosha. But Lazio do not want to give in and in the final assault hit another pole with Lazzari and Acerbi reiterates on the net, but is offside ..