{"id":14308,"date":"2026-09-09T23:54:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T22:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=14308"},"modified":"2026-09-11T21:15:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T20:15:41","slug":"neapolitans-frozen-out-as-cream-rises-to-the-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=14308","title":{"rendered":"Neapolitans Frozen Out As Cream Rises To The Top"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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And so Arsenal rolled into the home of Napoli, the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, named after their most famous player and favoured son in December 2020, although it has been their home since 1959.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikel Arteta made four changes from the XI that started against Chelsea, bearing in mind a difficult trip to Sunderland to come on Saturday evening: Raya; White, Konsa, Gabriel, Hincapi\u00e9; Rice, \u00d8degaard, Merino; Saka, Gy\u00f6keres, Eze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was surprised to see Rice and Saka in again but Mikel knows. Come on you Reds became Come on you All Reds as the Gunners were unusually in red shorts teamed with the home shirts and all red socks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First half<\/strong>
Napoli finished 30th in last season\u2019s Champions League league phase and were on a possible third consecutive loss having been beaten by Cesc Fabregas\u2019 Como and Inter Milan. Napoli had some early possession it it wasn\u2019t long before it gave way to some nice intricate Arsenal moves around the edge of the Napoli box. Our first corner from a deflected Eze shot. Napoli broke from it with their four-on-the-halfway-line tactic but blazed a cross well out of danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Love You Arsenal rang out round the Maradona as Gy\u00f6keres and Saka combined acrobatically to get a shot away. Kevin of Brown produced Napoli\u2019s first effort as the game began to open up. He and several of his mates then ran to the referee demanding a yellow card for a foul by Eze. Unlike Tzolis at the weekend they did not get similarly punished for their trouble. A terrific effort from Saka-Eze-Merino ended with a header which was parried over the bar for another corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal were dominating possession but had to beware the pacy Napoli counter attacks. A word for Mikel Merino. Good in possession and at making space, he\u2019s a very smart, versatile player with the ability to arrive late in the box and score goals as well. Hincapi\u00e9 nearly scored one with a curling cross on the half hour mark which was scrambled clear by the Napoli keeper who appeared to injure himself in the process. The players nicked an unscheduled hydration break as he had the magic spray applied to his groin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politano, the abbreviated version of the famous ice cream, drove in a shot comfortably saved by Raya before Saka made a great run for the byline, only to pull the ball back for Gy\u00f6keres to get himself rooted to the spot and lose the ball. \u00d8degaard played Saka in with a brilliant pass but he was, like his teammates from several other decent opportunities, unable to hit the target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the half drew to a close Arsenal had had the lion\u2019s share of possession but found it hard to convert any of the thirteen chances they had created in a very crowded Napoli area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half time: Napoli 0 – 0 Arsenal<\/strong>
I was left to reflect on an Italian friend of mine, Roberto, at half time. He was a pasta chef in Naples but eventually lost his job after he made a fusilli mistakes. Being a pasta chef he always had to pay a fortune for motor insurance because his car constantly ended up all denty. Like most Italian men he always wears a gold chain around his neck so he knows where to stop shaving. He generally has a tough life and to cap it all the poor chap has a prosthetic foot. His mates all call him Rubbertoe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second half<\/strong>
Napoli had to change their keeper at half time. There were no changes for the Arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some terrific interplay orchestrated by \u00d8degaard resulted in Hincapi\u00e9 blasting over the bar from a yard out. I guess that what he usually trains to do. The Napoli crowd whistled as Arsenal continued to weave patterns around their penalty area but still failed to make the breakthrough.
Napoli made two further changes on 57 minutes as they tried to find a way out of their lowest of low blocks. I\u2019m not picking on Gy\u00f6keres but this game did not suit him at all. He needs space to run at. There was none, and intricate, short passing patterns are not part of his skill set.
The Arsenal had had 17 goal attempts and 74% possession by the hour mark. On 64 minutes Arteta sent on Tzolis and Guimaraes for Eze and Merino. Personally I would have removed Gy\u00f6keres and moved Merino forward.
Havertz and Madueke came on for Gy\u00f6keres and Saka on 72 minutes. More intricate passing led to \u00d8degaard getting sight of the goal and rifling in off the post on 75 minutes. On this form it\u2019s impossible to disagree with Mikel Arteta that \u00d8degaard is in the most confident form he has ever seen. Tzolis now has four assists in his first five games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Napoli 0 – 1 Arsenal<\/strong>
Arsenal looked very assured as they continued to contain and mesmerise Napoli with some very slick football. Kevin Brown looked hot, bothered and a bit fed up with it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Havertz broke with Madueke and put him clear through against the keeper. Somehow Madueke managed to miss the chance of the night and Tzolis blasted the follow up into a recovering defender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kevin Brown crossed to safety with our goal at his mercy – thank goodness, as there would have been a mere one minute of normal time left to recover the lead. Havertz put the ball in the Napoli net on 93 minutes but it was ruled out for offside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final whistle blew to confirm another One Nil To The Arsenal – a close result that didn\u2019t reflect our superiority but did reflect our profligacy in front of goal. We played some excellent football against a Napoli side that were, above all, desperate not to lose – which they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final result: Napoli 0 – 1 Arsenal<\/strong>
A successful start to another Champions League campaign. We were, in fact, the only side to win away from home in tonight\u2019s matches. Winning away from home in this competition is really difficult. The trick now will be for the manager to pick a side that is fresh and ready for another very tough challenge – an away game at Sunderland in the Stadium of Light on Saturday evening. That will be the second of four consecutive away games before an international break. Tough times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come on you Reds !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And so Arsenal rolled into the home of Napoli, the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, named after their most famous player and favoured son in December 2020, although it has been their home since 1959. Mikel Arteta made four changes from the XI that started against Chelsea, bearing in mind a difficult trip to Sunderland to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14308"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14315,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14308\/revisions\/14315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}