Napoli beats Cremona, double from Hojlund

Six days after the triumph in the Super Cup, the Napoli he dives back into the championship, overcoming for 2-0 the Cremonese revelation at Zini. The cover man for the Neapolitans is once again Hojlund, author of a brace and, in general, of a dominant test. Conte’s team thus dispels the away taboo and returns to success away from Maradona.

In Cremona the supremacy of the Campanians has never been in doubt. They pass just thirteen minutes and Napoli are immediately ahead. Spinazzola collects a rebound from the opposing defense and shoots towards the goal: a deflection sends Audero out of time and brings the ball to the feet of Hojlund who scores the 1-0 into an empty net. The Danish striker comes close to scoring a double in the 24th minute on a restart action triggered by Politano, but Audero’s exit was providential. However, it was definitely Hojlund’s day who did not despair at the missed opportunity and scored the 2-0 at the end of the half. From a cross from Politano on which first Zerbin and then Baschirotto sleep, the former Manchester United player emerges again, collecting the rebound and rejoicing again. A Napoli focused and in control of the operations took a risk only in the 28th minute on a blocked attempt by Payero. In the previous action, Cremonese had protested for a contact in the area between Zerbin and Rrahmani, which however was considered too light by Mariani.

In the second half the pace of the match slows down

Napoli manages and still comes close to the third goal on several occasions: Hojlund comes close to scoring a hat-trick on two occasions, while McTominay challenges Audero in the 86th minute with a powerful shot from the edge. To get back into the game, Nicola tries everything, introducing the various Johnsen, Bonazzoli and Moumbagna from the bench: with maturity, however, the guests freeze the result. This result allows Conte’s boys to grab second place in Serie A, one point behind leaders Milan (awaiting Inter playing against Atalanta in the evening). On the other hand, however, today’s defeat does not significantly disturb Cremonese’s ranking, which remains twelfth with 21 points.