Napoli battled hard to earn a 2-1 Serie A win against Cagliari, ending a rotten run of form with just their second victory in five matches across all competitions and only their second triumph at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in eight matches.Following back-to-back losses against rivals Inter Milan and Juventus, Napoli were hoping to return to winning ways against lowly Cagliari, and they got off to a fast start, creating several chances. Victor Osimhen had numerous opportunities to open the scoring early on, the best of which saw André-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s ball into the box fall to the feet of the Nigerian striker on the edge of the six-yard box, but his effort was well blocked.Juve suffer a setback with Genoa defending their groundThe Azzurri continued to produce waves of attacks on the Cagliari goal but the away side were somehow managing to hold on, helped by the woodwork as Amir Rrahmani struck the post with a towering header from Matteo Politano’s free-kick. Despite dominating for 45 minutes and having 14 attempts on goal, Napoli failed to make it count and went into the halftime break goalless.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Former Cagliari boss Walter Mazzarri has struggled since taking over in Naples for the second time in his career with two wins and three losses, but his side were performing well against his previous team as they continued their attacking onslaught after the break. Zambo Anguissa produced a flying effort from the edge of the box after chesting the ball down, yet it looked like it just wasn’t going to be their night. That was until the 69th minute when Mário Rui’s cross into the box was headed towards goal by Osimhen and Simone Scuffet flapped at the ball, which clipped the post on its way over the line.
Despite all of their good work and eventually taking the lead, Mazzarri would have been very disappointed in his side as they allowed Cagliari to equalise almost immediately. Zito Luvumbo fizzed the ball into the box and it was turned in by Leonardo Pavoletti less than three minutes after the Isolani fell behind. Napoli, though, restored their lead soon after following some sublime hold-up play from Osimhen in the box as he almost juggled the ball and then picked out Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, who powered in off the post. Politano thought he had added a third in the final 10 minutes, but his drilled finish from the edge of the box was ruled out for an apparent foul in the build-up.
The six-minute spell of three goals was decisive in the result as the hosts held on for a vital victory that lifts them up into the top four before the teams around them are yet to play this gameweek. Cagliari meanwhile, remain precariously close to the relegation zone with just one point separating themselves and 18th-place Empoli, who are yet to play this weekend.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 16Friday Genoa – Juventus 1-1 (0-1)/Gudmundsson 48 – Chiesa 28 pen/Saturday Lecce – Frosinone 2-1 (1-1)/Piccoli 11, Ramadani 89 – Kaio Jorge 33 pen/Napoli – Cagliari 2-1 (0-0)/Osimnhen 69, Kvaratskhelia 77 – Pavoletti 72/22.45: (1.63) Torino (3.80) Empoli (5.70)Sunday14.30: (1.62) Milan (3.80) Monza (5.80)17.00: (1.48) Fiorentina (4.40) Verona (8.00)17.00: (2.35) Udinese (3.50) Sassuolo (3.15)20.00: (2.55) Bologna (3.20) Roma (3.15)22.45: (4.80) Lazio (3.60) Inter (1.85)Monday 22.45: (1.32) Atalanta (5.80) Salernitana (10.5)***odds are subject to change