Italian Serie A player ratings: SSC Napoli 1 – US Palermo 0 (Part 1)
Two of the most entertaining sides in the Italian football went head-to-head last night as SSC Napoli welcomed US Palermo to Stadio San Paolo. While Napoli were already in the fourth place, a victory would have taken Palermo into the Serie A top four.
Many expected the game to be an even affair but Palermo failed to turn up as Neapolitans frequently bombarded the Rosanero goal but to no avail. The game looked all set to end in a draw before Cristian Maggio decided to score a late winner in the fourth
minute of injury time.
Bettor.com now analyses the performances of the players who took to the pitch last night.
SSC Napoli
Morgan De Sanctis – 6
The Partenopei custodian was a mere spectator for much of the match as Napoli dominated the proceedings from the off. However, De Sanctis maintained his concentration and made routine saves on Miccoli and Pastore.
Gianluca Grava – 6
Grava played well for much of the game but his task was made much easier by a sub-par Palermo attack.
Paolo Cannavaro – 6.5
The younger of Cannavaros had a solid game last night with some inspired blocks on Pastore and Miccoli. Rosanero skipper was a non factor last night and much of the credit goes to the Paolo who also showed good passing ability on the pitch.
Salvatore Aronica – 6
Aronica had an easy outing against Ilicic and put in an assured display alongside Cannavaro in the heart of the Azzurri defence.
Christian Maggio – 8
The Italian International put in an immense shift last night with a man of the match performance. While Maggio was rarely caught out of position defensively. It was his attacking play that stole all the headlines. A goal for his efforts was nothing less
than what the wing back deserved.
Walter Gargano – 6
It was yet another workmanlike performance in the middle of the park for Gargano who tackled well all night long.
Michele Pazienza – 5.5
It was a subdued performance from the Italian as he was beaten by Pastore and Munoz in quick succession.
Andrea Dossena – 7.5
Dossena was in a pretty bad mood last night as he frequently bombarded the right side of Palermo defence. The Liverpool reject put in some quality crosses after beating his man and came close to scoring on one occasion when his rasping drive from a distance,
which flashed just wide.
Marek Hamsik – 6.5
Not one of his better displays for Hamsik but it wasn’t a bad performance by any stretch of imagination. The Slovakian kept the midfield ticking with simple passes and improved as the game wore on.
Edinson Cavani – 7
Cavani might not have scored but it was a complete performance from the Uruguayan forward. The striker dropped into space whenever he was needed to while also showing exemplary work-rate by tracking back and winning possession for his team on more than one
occasion.
Ezequiel Lavezzi – 7.5
Lavezzi was on song for the time he was on the pitch. The Argentine showed tremendous ball control in tight spaces as the Rosanero defence was given a torrid time in Naples. However, the forward received a knock to his ankle in the second half and never
recovered after that and had to be substituted.
Substitutions:
Hassan Yebda – 5.5
The Algerian had 15 minutes to impress the manager in the second half but failed to do so.
Luigi Vitale – 5.5
Vitale replaced Dossena in the dying stages of the game and didn’t have enough time to make an impact.
Nicolao Dumitru – 5.5
The teenager was given 20 minutes of much needed exposure following Lavezzi’s injury but he couldn’t muster any magic.
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