Napoli extended their flawless start to their Serie A championship defense with a 2-0 win over 10-man Sassuolo on Sunday, while Juventus survived a penalty dispute in a 1-1 draw with fiery Bologna.
Osimhen scored his third goal of the season from the penalty spot 15 minutes into Napoli’s first home match since winning the league title for the third time in front of their fans in June.
And in the 64th minute, not long after Maxime Lopez was sent off and Giacomo Raspadori — who had hit the post seconds before kick-off — blasted a penalty into the bleachers, Napoli made it six points from six.
“I think we played well, kept hold of the ball, we’re happy to have won the match in front of our fans,” said Di Lorenzo.
“We played well as a team. We’ve started well and the attitude is right so we’ve got everything for us to have a good season.”
Di Lorenzo’s first goal of the season came as a result of some fantastic play by the returning Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who made his season debut an hour into a one-sided match at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Kvaratskhelia scored 14 goals and set up 14 more last season, and he made an immediate impact after replacing Italy forward Matteo Politano.
Near the penalty area, the Georgian was surrounded by defenders, but he took a couple of steps forward before slipping in Di Lorenzo for a straightforward low finish.
It’s early days, but Napoli already appear to be a dangerous possibility under new coach Rudi Garcia, who has a difficult act to follow in new Italy manager Luciano Spalletti, the architect of the Scudetto triumph.
Next week, Napoli, who are level on points with leaders AC Milan and Verona, play Lazio, who have yet to win a game after being defeated 1-0 by promoted Genoa.
Lazio finished second last season but were defeated at home by Italy forward Mateo Retegui, who signed from Boca Juniors this summer.
It was a positive indication for Spalletti, who faces North Macedonia and Ukraine in Euro 2024 qualification next month.
Bologna Penalty Fury
Outraged In Turin, Bologna held Juventus but were left wondering what could have been after being denied what appeared to be a clear penalty moments before Dusan Vlahovic salvaged a point for the unimpressive hosts.
With 10 minutes remained at the Allianz Stadium, Vlahovic headed Juve level after Lewis Ferguson had given Bologna a deserved lead midway through the first half.
But Bologna were shocked when on-field and VAR officials failed to punish Samuel Iling-Junior, who later set up Vlahovic’s equalizer, for tripping Dan Ndoye and preventing him from tapping in from close range.
It was a decision which so angered Bologna that it prompted a livid post-match reaction from the club’s CEO Claudio Fenucci as coach Thiago Motta refused to talk to media.
“I’ve done this job for 25 years and I don’t often go on TV to talk about referees,” said Fenucci.
“The win was taken from us by an incredible refereeing decision… It’s unthinkable that a challenge like that is not punished with a penalty and a red card.”
Even the return of Paul Pogba to midfield after a year of injury troubles was unable to motivate Juve to victory, with the France star contributing little as a second-half substitute as Juve huffed and puffed ineffectively.
Juve put on a lackluster performance, casting doubt on their resurgence as league title candidates.
“I’m obviously happy to be back… but I’m also a bit disappointed with the result,” said Pogba to DAZN.
“The positive thing is that we didn’t lose.”
Lecce bounced back from two goals down at half-time to draw 2-2 with Fiorentina thanks to goals from Hamza Rafia and Nikola Krstovic.
