Napoli threw away two points against Sassuolo last week and was again on the hunt for the leadership position in Serie A. It had to pass number four Atalanta for that. Dries Mertens, nowadays a good shot with the Napoletans, started the party in the absence of Koulibaly and Insigne.
Our compatriot started the match eagerly, but it was ex-Racing Genk player Ruslan Malinovsky who scored the opening goal for Atalanta with a gem. Nice bang in the top corner. Afterwards it went up and down well, with a huge opportunity especially for Lozano, but the Mexican slid wide for an empty goal. The home team tied the score five minutes before half-time. Mertens with a good deviation to Zielinski, who was able to finish in two times.
After the break Dries Mertens saw his eagerness rewarded. ‘Ciro’ was cleverly sent into the depths, and eye to eye with goalkeeper Musso he did not fail. His fourth this week already, just to say that Mertens has regained his good form. Halfway through the second half, his game was over, just after Demiral’s equalizer. Things went from bad to worse for Napoli, which, just like against Sassuolo, swallowed another goal after the replacement of Mertens. Freuler signed for the 2-3 final score. Napoli loses the leading place in Serie A to AC Milan, Atalanta sneaks a little closer to the highest spots.
