Napoli beat Torino 2-1 on Wednesday night at the Stadio San Paolo to move above Juventus into third place.
The Partenopei were dominant as Lorenzo Insigne scored one of the goals of the season to open the scoring in the 16th minute. However, 16 minutes later and against the run of play Il Toro equalised through a possibly dubious Fabio Quagliarella penalty.
Yet the points went to Napoli, as Marek Hamsik converted from Insigne’s delightful pass in the 41st minute.
Napoli
Pepe Reina – 6.5 – Inconsistent
The former Liverpool player made an excellent save to deny Quagliarella in the first half, however he possibly could have saved the penalty from the same man.
Elseid Hysaj – 6.5 – Motivated
Bombed forward all night providing Napoli with width and drive. The former Empoli full-back also produced a number of very dangerous crosses.
Raul Albiol – 7 – Battler
The Spanish international showed class in his distribution and in his defensive work as he was rarely caught out by neither Andrea Belotti nor Quagliarella.
Kalidou Koulibaly – 7 – Dominating
Made one mistake all night which Napoli were almost punished from. Despite this, the former Gent defender was his usual solid rugged self in the heart of defence.
Faouzi Ghoulam – 6 – Clumsy
Ghoulam was slightly naive when he gave away the penalty but also possibly unlucky, however the Algerian bounced back to produce a decent performance.
David Lopez – 6 – Lax
Did the defensive side of his job very well, but the Spaniard was at times wasteful in possession when not under pressure, putting needless strain on the Partenopei defence
Mirko Valdifiori – 7 – Metronome
The former Empoli man has been starved of football this season, however he showed no signs of rustiness as he dictated the game’s tempo with ease.
Marek Hamsik – 7.5 – Stylish
The Slovakian not only produced a smart finish to beat Daniele Padelli but he was also a calming presence in the sometimes hectic arena that is Napoli’s attack.
Lorenzo Insigne – 8 – Breathtaking
His goal was an absolute wonder and so was his assist for Hamsik’s goal. The Italian can do pretty much anything he wants to on a football pitch, he was superb.
Jose Callejon – 7 – Wicked
The Spaniard probably should have scored early on but he redeemed himself by setting up Insigne’s goal. He also caused the ageing Cristian Molinaro problems with his pace and smart runs.
Gonzalo Higuain – 5.5 – Anomaly
Booked early on, it looked like it wasn’t going to Higuain’s night, and it really wasn’t as the Argentine could have been sent off and was frustrated all night against three centre-backs.
Substitutes
Dries Mertens – 6.5 – Creative
Provided trickery and pace as soon as he came on and he almost earned himself a great goal with an incisive run.
Allan – 6.5 – Fierce
Provided his usual bite in the middle of the park as soon as he entered the pitch to help Napoli see out the win.
Nathaniel Chalobah – N/A
Only on for a few minutes.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com