With their 2-0 victory over Sassuolo on Sunday, Napoli maintained their unblemished start to their Serie A championship defense. Meanwhile, Juventus held Bologna at bay in a 1-1 draw despite a penalty controversy.
15 minutes into Napoli's first home game since claiming the league championship in front of their supporters for the third time in June, Victor Osimhen scored his third goal of the year from the penalty spot.
And captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo made sure Napoli would make it six points from six in the 64th minute, not long after Maxime Lopez was sent off and Giacomo Raspadori – who had hit the post seconds after kick-off – blasted a penalty into the stands.
“I think we played well, kept hold of the ball, we’re happy to have won the match in front of our fans,” said Di Lorenzo.
“We played well as a team. We’ve started well and the attitude is right so we’ve got everything for us to have a good season.”
Di Lorenzo’s first goal of the campaign came after some magical play from the returning Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who made his season debut an hour into a one-sided contest at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Kvaratskhelia scored 14 times last season and set up the same number again, and he made his mark just three minutes after replacing Italy forward Matteo Politano.
The Georgian was surrounded by defenders near the penalty area but took a couple of steps forward before slipping in Di Lorenzo for a simple low finish.
It’s early days but Napoli already look a dangerous proposition under new coach Rudi Garcia, who has a tough act to follow in new Italy boss Luciano Spalletti, the architect of the Scudetto triumph.
Next week Napoli, who are level with leaders AC Milan and Verona at the top of the table, host Lazio who are yet to get off the mark after being beaten 1-0 by Promoted Genoa.
Lazio finished second last season but were seen off at home thanks to Italy forward Mateo Retegui’s first Serie A goal after signing from Boca Juniors this summer.
It was a good sign for Spalletti who will need goals when Italy face North Macedonia and Ukraine in Euro 2024 qualifying next month.