Napoli had to be patient on their way to a 2-0 win against Atalanta in Serie A (SA), which marks Gli Azzurri’s third consecutive H2H victory.
Coming into this match off the back of just their second SA defeat this season, Napoli looked determined to get back to winning ways with plenty of early attacking intent on display.
That attitude was typified by Matteo Politano, who hadn’t started any of the previous three across all competitions and saw an early effort saved by Juan Musso at the near post.
Musso continued to do a stellar job of protecting his near post, making a strong stop to deny Khvicha Kvaratskhelia after the Georgian had danced his way into a shooting position.
Victor Osimhen initially endured a frustrating start to the second half as he saw a superb acrobatic effort stopped by Musso, before uncharacteristically heading wide from a promising opportunity.
In a scene reminiscent of Napoli’s Argentine hero, Kvaratskhelia was surrounded by opposition defenders but elegantly worked space for himself before smashing the ball past Musso for his 20th goal contribution in SA.
Amir Rrahmani then added some breathing space with a header that drifted past Musso and into the bottom corner as normal service resumed for Napoli, who have now won nine of their last 10 SA matches and currently have an 18-point buffer atop the SA table.
Meanwhile, Atalanta have endured three consecutive league games without scoring for the first time since October 2018.
