For the third time already this year, 5th-place Fiorentina took on one of the four teams above them in the table. This time it was Napoli, who came in having won 6 of 6 and looking like the best team in the division. As if that wasn’t enough, it all came against a backdrop of Dušan Vlahović’s contractual issues.
The Viola came out firing, putting the Partenopei under constant pressure both with and without the ball, forcing the visitors to attack exclusively via long balls up to a very isolated Victor Osimhen. The pressure paid off when Lucas Martínez Quarta lashed home an acrobatic volley from a corner, but he went from hero to villain when he fouled Osimhen on the break moments later, conceding a penalty. Bartłomiej Drągowski saved Lorenzo Insigne’s spot kick and the follow-up, but Chucky Lozano turned it home at the third time of asking.
Fiorentina battled away and created some chances in the second half, but conceded due to some inattentive defense on a set piece, allowing Amir Rrahmani a free header from a free kick. After that, Napoli settled back and soaked up pressure; despite Vincenzo Italiano throwing on more attackers, his charges never really looked like troubling Luciano Spalletti’s men and it ended with the bad guys taking all 3 points back to Naples, although not before some hideous racism from the home fans marred the entire game.
As ever, you can find our full coverage of this one collected right down there.