MILAN (AP) — Antonio Vergara gave Napoli supporters a hometown hero on Saturday as the injury crisis deepened for the defending Serie A champions.
vergara scored an amazing goal He helped Napoli beat Fiorentina 2-1 in the Champions League midweek with a goal and an assist.
Napoli won for the first time in four competitive games, narrowing the gap with Serie A leaders Inter Milan to six points. Inter will play Cremonese on Sunday.
However, the victory came at a price as Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was taken to hospital in tears during the first half with a suspected ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Napoli have been plagued by injuries throughout the season, sometimes for long periods of time, with players sidelined including Kevin De Bruyne, Franck Anguissa, David Neres, Billy Gilmour, Matteo Politano and Amir Rahmani.
Napoli coach Antonio Conte said: “Every game you always have to use players who should be rested.” “We know this kind of injury[Di Lorenzo]has. It’s like a cruciate tear. It’s very bad. We know how much he means to us.”
“Then someone says we’re complaining. It’s not a normal injury happening to us, it’s a serious injury. And it’s hard to repair it no matter how much we try. The team is doing extraordinary things.”
Napoli were aiming to recover from defeat. champions league Wednesday after losing 3-2 to Chelsea.
Vergara scored Napoli’s first goal in that defeat and added to his tally with his first Serie A goal in the 11th minute on Saturday. Rasmus Højlund picked up a long ball that was blocked by a Fiorentina defender, but Vergara grabbed it and sprinted clear it into the bottom right corner.
The homegrown midfielder jumped over a billboard and appeared on the track to celebrate with the fans.
Fiorentina came close to equalizing shortly after they should have doubled their lead, but Roberto Piccoli headed the free-kick against the post and, as the game continued, Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret made a stunning save to deny Alberto Gudmundsson’s header from close range.
Napoli doubled their lead at the start of the second half when Vergara picked out Miguel Gutierrez on the right, cut inside past Fiorentina defender Robin Gosens and slotted the ball into the bottom corner.
Manor Solomon reduced the gap in the 57th minute, capitalizing on a rebound after Meret parried Piccoli’s shot.
Fiorentina remained in 18th place in Serie A with one point.
Berardi is back
Domenico Berardi made a fantastic return to the starting lineup as Sassuolo won 3-1 against Pisa, scoring and heading into his own net. Berardi was making his first start since November after suffering a hamstring injury.
Sassuro moved up to 11th place, leaving Pisa safe with just four points left. However, after Verona lost 4-0 to mid-table Cagliari, they moved out of the bottom of the table and moved ahead of Hellas Verona on goal difference.
The head-to-head record will be the first tiebreaker since the end of the season.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
