On the day of Insigne's party who scored his 122nd goal with the blue shirt with a penalty,
Napoli beat Genoa
, mathematically conquering third place in the standings (which is worth 21.6 million euros in contributions).
The Ligurians are relegated to Serie B.
THE CHRONICLE
81 'GOAL! NAPLES
-Genoa 3-0!
Lobotka Network!
Central acceleration and blow from distance with the right for the Slovak, Sirigu does not get there and the ball slips into the low corner.
First goal in A for the Neapolitan midfielder.
66 'GOAL! NAPLES
-Genoa 2-0!
Insigne's goal on a penalty kick!
The number 24 does not miss the repetition by putting the ball in the seven to cross!
Explodes the Maradona who was waiting for nothing but the network of his favorite today.
32 'GOAL NAPLES-Genoa 1-0!
Osimhen Network!
Di Lorenzo crosses from the right, Osimhen hits with a perfect third time and beats Sirigu with his head!
The blues make you feel the weight of the different technical caliber
compared to the opponents and the gap cannot be bridged even by the competitive intensity of the rossoblùs animated by the absolute need to win to reach the Salernitana in fourth last place in the standings and thus put a series of mortgages on salvation.
But the result is too important also for Napoli who are very keen (and not only for economic reasons related to the prize for the placement) to conquer the third place in the standings at the end of a season lived as a protagonist, culminating, up to a few weeks does in a shoulder to shoulder fight with Milan and Inter to grab the Scudetto.
Genoa begins the game with an impetus and enthusiasm that show all the desperation of Blessin's team, forced to win in order to feed the hope of staying in Serie A. Napoli on the other hand,
The aggressiveness of
Genoa
forces Spalletti's team to close themselves in front of their own penalty area, even if the rearguard of the hosts resists the Genoa attacks without great worries, if we exclude in the case of a crossbar hit by Yeboah in the 12 'with a conclusion from the edge of the 'area.
The blues, plan by plan, move the center of gravity of their game forward and shortly before half an hour they place themselves firmly in the opposing half of the pitch.
The goal of the advantage for Spalletti's team arrives at 31 '.
Di Lorenzo from the right starts a cross that in the center of the area Osimhen intercepts with a head with a peremptory detachment, sending the ball behind Sirigu.
At this point, one would expect Genoa's reaction, which instead does not arrive.
AND'
In the second half,
Blessin
's team tries to react but seems unconvinced of their means.
Then, on 20 'for a hand ball in the area by Hernani, Fabbri assigns a penalty kick which Insigne kicks, sending the ball to print on the post.
On the rebound Di Lorenzo bags with a diagonal.
The referee, however, on a signal from the Var, has the penalty repeated and this time Insigne in the general jubilation of the stadium, does not miss the target, bringing his personal booty with the Napoli shirt to 122 goals.
At 36 'it is Lobotka's turn who runs vertically on the pitch, reaches the limits of the penalty area and bags with a low shot.
Napoli is definitely third in the standings.
The season ends in the worst way for Genoa
which marked the end of the Preziosi era after 18 years at the helm of the oldest club in Italy.
The rossoblùs relegated to Serie B after fifteen seasons.
Precisely with Preziosi as president in 2007 they won the return to A. Today's defeat at Maradona for 3-0 condemns the Grifone who lived a troubled season to say the least.
A badly matched team in the summer by Preziosi with Ballardini as an unconvinced coach precisely following a transfer market or last-minute arrivals, Genoa has always remained in the relegation zone while the company changed hands.
An operation started in the summer but definitively concluded on November 15, 2021 after the negotiations had been formalized at the end of September.
An upheaval that weighed on the team's path and on the choices in the current championship.
L'
arrival of 777 Partners, an American holding that has invested heavily in football by buying other clubs (Standard Liegi, Vasco da Gama and the French Red Star), led to a new president, Professor Alberto Zangrillo and the first change on the bench with the the exoneration of Ballardini in early November and the appointment of Andriy Shevchenko, which came a month before that of the new general manager Johannes Spors.
A choice that the rossoblù paid like the difficulties on the market in January precisely because of the ranking with the team already in the slums not very attractive for any reinforcements.
So the new manager probed the foreign market by buying little-known players and taking another important decision: Shevchenko's sacking.
But the first choice to replace the Ukrainian coach, the German Bruno Labbadia,
he didn't feel like it, so much so that in Florence the youth coach Konko sat on the bench and so here is the arrival of Alexander Blessin.
The former Ostend coach tried to perform a sporting miracle and did so relying on a handful of rookies in A, many of whom were very young.
His arrival coincided with seven consecutive draws and a victory in the first eight games, results that allowed Genoa to remain in the race for salvation until the penultimate day.
Genoa paid for the absence of a real striker
, none in double figures and Destro who scored only two goals in 2022, and some missed opportunities, especially in direct clashes with Venice and Salernitana.
The victories with Cagliari and Juventus in the final of this season were not enough.
The defeat of Naples added to the results of Salernitana and Cagliari make Genoa relegate ..
