Napoli squeaked past Roma in the latest edition of the famous Derby del Sole, overtaking their rivals in the Serie A table. David Neres scored the winning goal at the Stadio Olimpico, extending Napoli’s dominant head-to-head record to just one defeat in 12 meetings (W7, D4).

As expected, it was a game of few chances. Despite having momentum on their side ahead of the kick-off, Roma lacked creativity and depth on the flanks, resulting in arguably their weakest first-half showing under Gian Piero Gasperini.

Though Napoli wasted two decent opportunities in the opening half an hour, a lethal counterattack in the 36th minute gave the visitors the lead. Rasmus Hojlund played a delightful through ball to Neres, who was too fast for his markers before beating Mile Svilar in a one-on-one situation.

Faced with a halftime deficit, Roma vastly improved in the second half, yet they couldn’t create a single scoring chance before the 90th minute. Second-half substitutes Paulo Dybala and Tommaso Baldanzi combined to set up the latter. However, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic pulled off a superb save.

After losing their fourth league game of the season, Roma dropped to fourth in the standings. Meanwhile, Napoli have drawn level on points with early pacesetters Milan on the back of their second consecutive league victory. Without further ado, let’s look at our player ratings.

Napoli (3-4-3)

Vanja Milinkovic-Savic – 8/10

With Roma producing very little in the final third, the towering goalkeeper didn’t have much to do. Yet, he came up huge when his side needed him most, making a vital save to salvage three points for Napoli.

Sam Beukema – 7/10

Despite several lapses in concentration in the first half, the former Bologna ace put on another impressive performance, completely neutralizing Lorenzo Pellegrini.

Amir Rrahmani – 8/10

The Kosovo international made light work of Evan Ferguson, forcing Gasperini to take the Brighton loanee off at the start of the second half.

Alessandro Buongiorno – 7/10

He was not up to Rrahmani’s standard tonight, but he did enough to keep Matias Soule at bay, using his strength and positioning to snuff out danger.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo – 8/10

Equally convincing on both ends of the field, the Napoli captain held up his end of the bargain against Wesley and Pellegrini while completing numerous overlapping runs.

Stanislav Lobotka – 6/10

The diminutive midfielder wasn’t at his best at the Olimpico, with his distribution under pressure leaving plenty of room for improvement. Picked up a yellow card for a reckless tackle.

Scott McTominay – 6/10

Napoli’s talisman had a relatively quiet evening, given his remarkable scoring output. However, in a physical game like this, his midfield presence proved crucial for the visiting side.

Mathias Olivera – 6/10

Though the Uruguayan offered nothing in attack, he was outstanding defensively, winning virtually every duel against Soule.

Noa Lang – 5/10

Almost invisible for most of the game, Lang couldn’t do anything on the left flank, often playing the ball back and refusing to take on his markers.

David Neres – 9/10

In addition to scoring the winner, the Brazilian winger was undoubtedly Napoli’s most dangerous player this evening. A nightmare for Roma’s backline.

Rasmus Hojlund – 7/10

Apart from the assist, the Danish striker drew countless fouls and held the ball up well to bring his teammates into play.

Substitutions

Matteo Politano – 6/10

Elif Elmas – N/A

Lorenzo Lucca – N/A