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| Higuain scored his 29th goal of the season in 30 games he has played |
Gonzalo Higuain took his tally to 29 goals in 30 Serie A games as Napoli fought back from an early Genoa goal to win 3-1.
The Partenopei needed a win to maintain the three-point gap from leaders Juventus, who won the Derby della Mole this afternoon. Genoa were on good form and welcomed back Leonardo Pavoletti after six weeks out with a thigh strain, but missed Ezequiel Munoz and Cristian Ansaldi. Goran Pandev and Blerim Dzemaili visited their old club.
The Grifone held Napoli to a 0-0 draw in November, but hadn’t beaten them since a 3-2 thriller in 2012, while the last victory at the San Paolo was in 2009.
Jose Callejon fired his volley over from a smart Gonzalo Higuain chipped assist, while Mattia Perin got down quickly to beat away a Pipita strike from the edge of the box.
However, as has been happening all too frequently lately, Napoli found themselves a goal down when Tomas Rincon shrugged off a Kalidou Koulibaly challenge and absolutely smashed it under the bar. Once again, Pepe Reina looked as if he could’ve done more to get there.
Callejon hesitated too long when one-on-one and allowed Sebastien De Maio to clear, but Genoa lost captain Nicolas Burdisso to a hamstring injury.
It was a siege and Perin palmed a Higuain header out of the far bottom corner, then pushed Marek Hamsik’s daisy-cutter round the base of the near post.
Perin punched a corner off Koulibaly’s head, but it looped into the air and was falling into the net before a desperate De Maio goal-line clearance.
Hamsik wasted a golden opportunity when his soft header was neither an
attempt nor an assist, allowing Perin to pluck it out of the air. Higuain controlled an Insigne cross on the penalty spot, but Diego Laxalt dived in to block before he could pull the trigger.
On the stroke of half-time Insigne’s diving header was straight at Perin on a knocked back Higuain cross. The second period began in a similar vein, as Higuain’s shot squirmed under Perin’s body only for Gabriel Silva to hoof clear before Callejon could tap into the empty net.
The pressure finally paid off when Higuain ran on to an Elseid Hysaj ball over the top and sprung the offside trap, placing his finish below Perin. It was his 28th goal in 30 Serie A games.
Moments later it should’ve been 2-1 to Napoli, but Higuain ran on to a Hamsik assist and flashed the angled drive across the face of goal, inches past the far post.
Insigne and substitute Dries Mertens continued to drill just off target, but for all the pressure Alessio Cerci wasted a golden opportunity to restore Genoa’s lead by firing wide after a Koulibaly error.
Higuain’s header from an Insigne corner assist had beaten Perin, but Diego Laxalt was there to clear off the line. Higuain and Mertens had another two shots charged down in the box, but on the counter Cerci’s deflected effort shaved a coat of paint off the near post with Reina wrong-footed.
It seemed as if Napoli would never find a way through, but Higuain ran on to a Hamsik through ball on the edge of the box, cut back between two defenders and steered a remote-controlled right-foot curler in off the inside of the far post. His 29th goal in 30 Serie A games sent the San Paolo crowd wild.
Genoa wouldn’t give in and Panagiotis Tachtsidis drilled just wide from distance, but Perin also fingertipped a sensational Manolo Gabbiadini volley at full stretch over the bar.
There was a third goal in stoppages, as Gabbiadini sprung the offside trap and intelligently set it up for substitute Omar El Kaddouri to curl in from 10 yards.
Napoli: Reina; Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon (Mertens 59), Higuain (El Kaddouri 88), Insigne (Gabbiadini 74)
Genoa: Perin; Izzo, Burdisso (Fiamozzi 16), De Maio; Laxalt, Rincon, Dzemaili, Rigoni (Tachtsidis 64), Gabriel Silva; Pandev, Pavoletti (Cerci 57)
Ref: Gervasoni
