Antonio Conte Delivers Damning Verdict of Napoli Second-Half Display at Genoa

Napoli regained a slender one-point lead at the top of the Serie A table with Saturday’s hard-earned 2-1 win at bottom-half Genoa. Head coach Antonio Conte addressed the media after a dramatic triumph at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, admitting his team’s second-half performance flattered to deceive.

Goals from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Amir Rrahmani within 23 minutes fired Napoli 2-0 up at the break. However, the visitors got complacent after the halftime interval, allowing Genoa to assert dominance and throw their hopes of taking three points into doubt.

Indeed, Napoli conceded just six minutes into the second half as Andrea Pinamonti squeezed the ball past Alex Meret to bring Genoa back into the game. Had it not been for Meret’s heroics between the sticks, the Partenopei would’ve probably left Liguria winless.

Napoli failed to attempt a shot on target in the second half and had Meret to thank for inflicting Patrick Vieira’s first league defeat in charge of the Griffins.

“I don’t know if Genoa changed or if we changed,” Conte told DAZN via Calciomercato. “I’m very satisfied with the first half; we dominated the game thoroughly. In the second half, the only thing we said was not to let Genoa back into the game, but it happened.

“I know this stadium well; it only takes a spark to ignite the fans and change the momentum of the match. The first half was perhaps the most beautiful in terms of play and dominance, while the second should not belong to us.

“It means switching off, putting everything back in question, and it’s not fair to the work we do during the week. If we have ambitions, we must change and stay focused for 95 minutes,” the Napoli boss finished.

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