Napoli beat Roma to take the lead… Mourinho “Kim Min-jae is a fantastic player”
Italy’s Serie A Napoli, where ‘Iron Pillar’ Kim Min-jae (27) guarded the back door, won 4 consecutive league victories by defeating AS Roma. Napoli, who widened the gap with Inter Milan in second place to 13 points, continued their cruising journey toward winning the Scudetto (Serie A championship trophy).
Napoli won 2-1 in the 2022-2023 Italian Serie A match against AS Roma at the Diego Armando Stadium in Naples, Italy on the 29th (local time). Napoli, which lost to Inter Milan in a match held right after the World Cup break and ended their 15 league unbeaten run, continued their upward trend by winning four matches in a row.
Napoli, who won their 17th win (2 draws and 1 loss) with the victory that day, firmly maintained their lead in the league with 53 points. The gap with 2nd place Inter Milan (13 wins, 1 draw, 6 losses, 40 points) is 13 points. In terms of the number of games, this is a point difference that can be reversed only if Napoli loses 5 games in a row and Inter Milan wins 5 games in a row. Napoli gradually increased its chances of winning early in the Serie A league race after half. Roma is in 6th place with 37 points.
As if showing a good mood recently, Napoli took an offensive against Roma from the beginning. Hvica Kvarachhelia opened the door with a right-footed shot after passing a defender in front of the penalty box in the 4th minute of the first half. After lowering the overall line, Roma responded to Napoli with a strategy of ‘defense first and then counterattack’.
Napoli scored the first goal in the 17th minute. ‘Fixer’ Victor Osimen shook the net with a powerful right-footed shot after receiving Kvarach Helia’s cross to the chest and trapping it once with his knee. The opposing goalkeeper threw himself, but the ball was already in the goal. League leading scorer Osimen increased his scoring tally to 14, reporting goals in four consecutive matches.
Roma launched a counterattack after conceding. Lorenzo Pellegrini and Paulo Dybala threatened the goal with long-range shots. Napoli’s Irving Lozano’s cross was headed by Osimen, but it missed the post slightly.
At the beginning of the second half, Roma made a strong move by replacing defender Leonardo Spinazzola with striker Stefan El Sharawi. This replacement was ultimately successful. In the 30th minute of the second half, Roma, who was knocking on Napoli’s goal, pushed Nikola Zalewski’s cross with El Sharawi’s foot.
Napoli, who allowed a tie, introduced Giovanni Simeone and others. This replacement also hit. After receiving a pass from Piotr Zielinski in the 41st minute of the second half, Simeone turned around and attempted a left-footed shot, which shook the net. Roma tried to score again, but could not break through the Napoli defense.
Kim Min-jae, who started as a central defender, contributed to the victory by effectively blocking attacks from opposing strikers Tammy Abraham and Dybala. He recorded the most in the game with 9 kicks, 2 tackles and 2 shooting blocks. The pass success rate reached 93%. WhoScored.com, a statistics media outlet, gave Kim Min-jae the highest rating of 7.0 among defenders of both teams. 메이저놀이터
The enemy manager, Jose Mourinho, also praised Kim Min-jae. Mourinho said, “Napoli has two very strong center backs in a one-on-one fight.” “In particular, Kim Min-jae is a fantastic player. He has enough skills to make it difficult for opponents,” he said.