Napoli, Granada’s rival in the round of 32 of the Europa League, fell 0-2 this Saturday during their visit to Genoa and suffered their seventh defeat in the Italian Serie A, which reached the twenty-first match.
Gennaro Gattuso’s team, who will visit Granada on February 18 and receive him the following week, on the 25th, paid for two defensive distractions in the first half with two goals from Macedonian Goran Pandev.
Hirving Lozano against Genova Getty Images
The veteran forward, who played three years at Napoli and scored 22 goals, put his former team on the ropes, in which the Mexican Hirving Lozano and the Colombian David Ospina started.
Nor did luck help the Neapolitan painting, which shot the wood twice. He did it with forward Andrea Petagna shortly before Pandev scored the 2-0 and then in the 78th minute, with a shot from Insigne to pass from “Chucky” Lozano.
Italian international winger Matteo Politano closed the gap with ten minutes remaining and restored hope to Gattuso’s side, who nevertheless could not avoid a serious setback at the Marassi Stadium.
It crashed before a revitalized Genoa after the arrival of coach Davide Ballardini. He took the reins of the team on the fourteenth day, when he had seven points, and in eight days he added up to 17.
Napoli is fifth, three points behind the Champions League zone, while Genoa is eleventh, with a comfortable margin over the relegation zone.