NAPOLI HOLD FIRM TO 3RD PPLACE AFTER BEATING RESILIENT TORINO IN A TOUGH MATCH- TORINO 0-1 NAPOLI.
Fabián Ruiz’s 73rd-minute strike saw Napoli make it six wins from their last seven visits to Torino, to all but secure a third-placed finish in Serie A (SA).
With a six-game unbeaten run under their belt, Torino squared off against a Napoli side hoping to all but wrap up third-place in SA after Juventus’ defeat. With that added pressure in mind, it was Napoli who very nearly conceded the initiative, with David Ospina forced to make a superb diving save down to his right to keep Andrea Belotti – fresh from a hat-trick against Empoli – off the scoresheet early on. From there, it took a while for the next chance to come, and, when it did come, Lorenzo Insigne could only direct a tame header into the grateful grasp of Etrit Berisha.
Although an uneventful first half, Napoli, in particular, would have been boosted by their positive record of five wins in their last six visits to Torino prior to today’s meeting. The second half didn’t start in any more entertaining fashion, however, with both sides still struggling to carve clear cut chances. Tempers began to flare in the second period, though, perhaps coinciding with the frustration of a scoreless game, as bookings for Dries Mertens, Hirving Lozano, and Mërgim Vojvoda arrived in quick succession. And, with the number of tackles rising, the referee was soon pointing to the spot, with Mertens on the end of Armando Izzo’s foul. Alas, with the chance from the spot, Insigne could only find the outstretched gloves of Berisha across his right-hand side to miss his fourth penalty in SA this season.
Izzo soon made up for giving away the penalty, too, when his outstretched leg denied Insigne the chance to fire home the opener in what was Napoli’s most promising spell of the game. It was a spell that deserved a goal, and a spell that eventually resulted in a goal, with Ruiz driving into the box before firing his seventh goal of the season between Berisha’s legs in the 73rd minute. With that goal, and subsequent result, third-placed Napoli go four points clear of Juventus, leaving Torino in 10th.
