On 4 February, one of the matches of the 23rd round of the Italian football championship took place. Napoli (Naples) and Verona (Italy) met.
Italian Championship, 23rd round
Napoli (Naples) - Verona (Italy) - 2:1 (0:0)
Goals: K. Kvaratskhelia (87) - Diego Coppola (72), K. Ngonge (79)
Warnings: Diego Coppola (33), M. Baroni (36), Mario Rui (46), T. Suslov (54), J. Lindström (66), Lobotka (76).
Napoli faced Verona in a much-anticipated Serie A match at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The game ended 2-1 in favour of Napoli, giving the fans a lot of action and drama. The first half of the match was a cautious struggle, with both teams showing solid defence. Despite several promising attacks, the score remained goalless at half-time - 0-0. However, the second half saw a flurry of events that had the spectators on edge. In the 33rd minute Verona's D. Coppola received a yellow card, and in the 36th minute his teammate M. Baroni received a yellow card. Napoli's M. Rui was also in the referee's book, receiving a yellow card in the 46th minute.
The intensity of the game continued to build when Verona's T. Suslov received a yellow card in the 54th minute. Napoli were the first to make a substitution, with M. Rui replacing P. Mazzocchi in the 52nd minute. Verona responded with a substitution: T. Noslin replaced K. Swiderski in the 60th minute. Napoli then made two quick substitutions in the 61st and 62nd minutes: M. Politano and J. Kahuste replaced J. Lindström and K. Noslin. Lindström and K. Ngonge. When the game reached its climax, Napoli's J. Lindström received a yellow card. Lindström received a yellow card in the 66th minute. Verona capitalised on the momentum in the 72nd minute when D. Coppola scored, giving his team a 1-0 lead. In the 76th minute, Napoli's S. Lobotka received a yellow card, which further increased the tension. However, Napoli fought back and equalised in the 79th minute with a goal from K. Ngonge, much to the delight of the home fans. Verona made two substitutions in quick succession: D. Lazovic and T. Suslov replaced R. Vinagre and D. Silva in the 81st and 82nd minutes respectively. Napoli made a triple substitution in the 85th minute, with G. Simeone, G. Raspadori and L. Dendoncker replacing S. Lobotka and G. Magnani. Verona also made a double substitution, replacing O. Duda and E. Tavsan in the same minute with D. Coppola and T. Nosli. Coppola and T. Noslin. In the last minutes of the game Napoli sealed the victory with a brilliant goal by K. Kvaratskhelia in the 87th minute. After the final whistle, the home crowd erupted in cheers and Napoli secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Verona. This thrilling encounter demonstrated the competitive nature of Serie A football and left fans anticipating more exciting matches in the coming weeks. Both Napoli and Verona produced decent results, but it was their resilience and ability to capitalise on their opportunities that led Napoli to victory.
In the next round of fixtures the following matches await the rivals: Milan vs Napoli, Monza vs Verona.
| Napoli | Verona | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Kicks to the goal | 2 |
| 19 | Kicks | 12 |
| 2 | Blocked shots | 1 |
| 11 | Penalty kicks | 8 |
| 8 | Penalty kicks | 4 |
| 11 | Offences | 14 |
| 9 | Corners | 2 |
| 2 | Offsides | 1 |
| 69% | Ball possession | 31% |
| 3 | Yellow cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red cards | 0 |
| 1 | Keeper saves | 6 |
| 579 | Total assists | 248 |
| 500 | Accurate assists | 180 |
| 86% | Passing accuracy | 73% |