Napoli managed to secure a narrow 3-2 victory over Pisa at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, extending their lead at the top of Serie A by two points. Despite a less-than-stellar performance, Napoli held on for the win. Billy Gilmour's first goal in Serie A was equalised by M'Bala Nzola's penalty in the 60th minute. Leonardo Spinazzola and Lorenzo Lucca then scored to give Napoli the edge, although Lorran's late goal added tension to stoppage time.
In the 27th minute, Napoli thought they had taken the lead when Eljif Elmas headed in after Adrian Semper saved Rasmus Hojlund's shot. However, Hojlund was offside during the build-up, nullifying the goal. Shortly after, Gilmour capitalised on Spinazzola's pass, cleverly shifting to his left foot
and scoring with a deflected shot into the bottom-right corner. Pisa posed several challenges in the first half and deservedly equalised through Nzola's penalty after Sam Beukema handled the ball.
Spinazzola restored Napoli's advantage by evading Marius Marin and firing a low shot from 25 yards that beat Semper. Substitute Lucca increased their lead with a powerful near-post strike just four minutes after coming on. Yet, Lorran pulled one back for Pisa in the 90th minute following Giovanni Di Lorenzo's error. Napoli managed to hold on through six minutes of added time, securing their fourth consecutive win.
Antonio Conte faced some concerns despite the victory. Napoli struggled in their recent Champions League match against Manchester City, losing 2-0 after Di Lorenzo received an early red card. In this game against Pisa, they only achieved an expected goals (xG) total of 0.99 from 18 shots, with six on target. In contrast, Pisa had an xG of 2.61 from 15 attempts but scored just once.
Napoli extended their unbeaten streak to 16 matches (11 wins and five draws), which is currently unmatched across Europe's top five leagues. They also achieved five consecutive Serie A victories under Conte for the third time.
The team's resilience was evident as they managed to secure another win despite not being at their best. This result keeps them firmly at the top of Serie A and highlights their ability to grind out results even when facing challenges both domestically and in European competitions.
