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Juventus blew the chance to go six points clear on top of the Serie A table, after losing to Napoli 2-1.
After a rather dull opening 45 minutes, it was midfielder Piotr Zielinski who broke the deadlock in the second half. Captain Lorenzo Insigne doubled the lead four minutes from full-time, which all but confirmed a home league win in more than three months for the side from Naples. High-flying Cristiano Ronaldo was able to get one back for the visitors, as Juventus suffered their second defeat in top-flight Italian football this season.
Maurizio Sarri was shocked by his former team as Juventus took more than an hour to manage a shot on target. It was a dull, dismal and slow performance by the league leaders and they could not capitalize on the first real opening to take control of the Scudetto race.
Inter left the door open to see Bianconeri's Serie A lead grow larger but nothing of that sort happened.
Keeping all that in mind, let us look at the three stand-out performers from this game:
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo
While it was a bad day for Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been phenomenal in 2020, continued his good form with another goal last night. A late offside flag denied Ronaldo the 53rd-minute opener and then the Portuguese superstar also set up Gonzalo Higuain beautifully, but his low drive was stopped by Alex Meret.
Almost at the end of the game, Rodrigo Bentancur lofted forward a sensational ball for Cristiano Ronaldo and the forward did not miss his chance. The 34-year-old stabbed in from close range to give Juve hope of a late comeback in the 90th minute but it turned out to be a little too late.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored for the eighth Serie A game in a row for Juventus on Sunday, but sadly his smart goal could not prevent his side slipping to a 2-1 defeat
.#2 Piotr Zieliński
Piotr Zielinski scored the opening goal of the game midway through the second half, finishing on the rebound after Wojciech Szczesny pushed Lorenzo Insigne's shot back into the danger zone. The midfielder was fearless with the ball and carried it forward whenever he saw space. He used his speed and strength and was always looking for that key pass in the final third.
His smart movement and accurate passing abilities helped him create time and space for himself and his teammates and that was evident as his team beat a dominant Juventus side. The Polish international won three tackles and four ground-duels and was a strong presence in that midfield.
#1 Lorenzo Insigne
The captain was on fire for the home side and was one of the biggest reasons that Napoli could get a win against the league leaders. It was his shot that Wojciech Szczesny pushed into the path of Zielinski to finish and to get the team's first goal. Insigne then volleyed home Napoli's second with four minutes of normal time remaining and doubled their lead. It was his first home goal in Serie A this season and it was a belter.
The winger was deployed on the left in a 4–3–3 and his creativity, quick feet and technical ability made him extremely difficult to cope up with. The Italian was agile in possession and had excellent balance and control of the ball. The 28-year-old played a crucial role in both goals and he was the player of the match.
