Napoli Had Entered The Top 4 After Extending Parma's Suffering

Eljif Elmas celebrates the goal he scored against Parma (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Napoli entered the top four of the Italian League standings after extending the suffering of his guest Parma with a 2-0 victory, in the Italian League match which was played at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, Naples, Sunday local time (Monday WIB).

However, Napoli's position was again shifted by AS Roma (40) who won 3-1 over Verona Verona moments later. Napoli have 37 points, are now in 5th position, according to Antara's records from the official Italian League website.

As for Parma (13), this defeat extended their non-winning streak in the last 10 matches since December last year, and were trapped in 19th position.

Eljif Elmas scored the opener in the match in the 32nd minute, before Matteo Politano netted in the 82nd to seal Gennaro Gattuso's men the win.

Napoli's first chance in the match was with Lorenzo Insigne's long-range shot which was deflected and only produced a corner. After that Napoli more controlled the tempo of the game, but they had difficulty in providing a real threat to Parma's goal who was guarded by Luigi Sepe.

The deadlock-breaking goal came through Elmas's action midway through the first half. He passed several Parma defenders, snaking to open up space in midfield, before finishing his move with a shot into the bottom corner of the opponent's goal.

The hosts almost doubled their lead just before halftime. Andrea Petagna had space on the left but opted to find Hirving Lozano in the center where his shot went wide.

Parma tried to play more aggressively in the second half. Their first chance was when Andreas Cornelius got the through ball, but his finish from a tight angle was not on target.

The visitors managed to break into David Ospina's goal in the 62nd minute. Unfortunately the goalscorer Gaston Brugman was already in an offside position.

Parma continued to trouble Napoli, but in the run-up to the end Politano scored to ensure the hosts secured the three points. From a sweeping ball controlled by Politano, the substitute then fired a deflected strike that outwitted keeper Sepe.

Napoli will try to get back to winning when they visit Genoa on Saturday, February 6 to keep their chances of participating in the Champions League. Parma, meanwhile, will look to get their first home win since October last year against Bologna on Sunday, February 7.

The composition of players:

Napoli (4-3-3): David Ospina, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Konstantinos Manolas, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mario Rui, Eljif Elmas, Diego Demme, Piotr Zielinski (Tiemoue Bakayoko 70 '), Hirving Lozano, Andrea Petagna (Matteo Politano 63' ), Lorenzo Insigne

Coach: Gennaro Gattuso

Parma (4-3-3): Luigi Sepe, Andrea Conti, Yordan Osorio, Riccardo Gagliolo, Giuseppe Pezzella, Alberto Grassi (Hernani 46 '), Gaston Brugmann, Jasmin Kurtic, Juraj Kucka, Andreas Cornelius, Gervinho

Coach: Roberto D'Aversa