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At 2:00 a.m. Beijing time on February 22, a match in the 26th round of Serie A began to compete, and Napoli challenged Cagliari away. Napoli are favourites to win the championship, winning 16 of their first 25 league games and having a very good record. Napoli's defence was the best in All Serie A, having conceded only 17 goals before that. Napoli are unbeaten in six rounds in Serie A and are in very good form. Napoli's opponent this time is relegated zone side Cagliari. The two sides met in the 6th round, when Napoli won thanks to goals from Osmayne and Insigne. In the meeting again, although Napoli is playing away, the goal is still to win the game, but Napoli only got a draw, losing a very crucial 2 points on the way to the championship.
In this game, Spalletti lined up in a 3412 formation. Ospina served as the starting goalkeeper. Juan Jesus, Koulibaly and Lamani form a three-back. Mario Rui, Zelinsky, Dem and Di Lorenzo partner in 4 midfielders. The attacking combination of Mertens, Elmas and Petania joined forces. Osmayne, Fabian Ruiz and Ghulam sit on the bench. Lozano, Politano and Anguissa are all sidelined with injuries.
After the start of the game, the home team played more aggressively, but napoli were the first to get a good chance, di Lorenzo and Lamani both had shooting opportunities, but they did not take advantage of it. After that, Cagliari played harder and harder, and he also got good opportunities in succession. Neither Altare nor Pedro scored the ball. At the end of the half, neither side broke the deadlock. Napoli had 46% possession in the first half, with only four shots on target and two on target, failing to score. Cagliari also scored 4 goals on goal in the first half.
In the second half, Zelinsky's free-kick was high on goal, Cagliari seized the opportunity to score first, Andreas Pereira struck a fatal blow, and his pocket shot drilled into the far corner of the goal. Napoli had no way back, and Spalletti suddenly changed 3 people, replacing Ruiz, Osmayne and Onas. As a result, Osmayne stepped up and equalised with a header in the 86th minute, saving Napoli. The final score was fixed at 1-1, breaking out of the cold, and Napoli only won one draw. The championship pattern has changed! Napoli tied Inter Milan on points and still finished 3rd, fierce competition. Napoli's starting strikers didn't fare well in this game, with Mertens having only a pitiful one shot on goal and not getting it right, scoring a low score of six points.