Serie A champions Napoli begin title defense with victory: Stats
What's the story
Kevin De Bruyne scored a stunning goal on his debut for Napoli, leading the Serie A champions to a comfortable 2-0 victory over newly-promoted Sassuolo. The Belgian international's free-kick from the left flank in the 57th minute was deflected by no one and found its way into the far corner of the net. Scott McTominay had opened the scoring for Napoli with a header in the 17th minute. Here's more.
Player highlights
McTominay continues fine form for Napoli
McTominay, who was instrumental in Napoli's second Scudetto victory in three years with 12 goals and 4 assists, continued his fine form for Antonio Conte's team. He came close to scoring again just before halftime but hit the crossbar with a powerful first-time shot. Despite never having retained a league title even during Diego Maradona's era in the 1980s, Napoli are hopeful of another successful season under Conte after Luciano Spalletti's departure last season.
Injury impact
Lukaku's replacement, Lorenzo Lucca, fails to make an impact
Napoli's quest for a fifth league title has been hampered by Romelu Lukaku's thigh muscle tear, which could keep him out till the end of the year. His replacement, Lorenzo Lucca, struggled to make an impact on his Napoli debut. Meanwhile, Sassuolo suffered a major blow as they finished the match with 10 men after debutant Ismael Kone was sent off in the 79th minute for two bookable offenses.
Records
Records for Lorenzo and De Bruyne
As per Opta, Giovanni Di Lorenzo made his 250th appearance in Serie A tonight. Since his debut season in the competition (2018-19), he's the player with the most games played. De Bruyne at the age of 34 years and 56 days became the oldest outfield player to make his debut for Napoli, starting in Serie A in the three-point-for-a-win era (since 1994-95).
Information
Here are the match stats
Napoli had 13 attempts with 4 shots on target. Sassuolo had two shots on target from 7 attempts. Napoli had 63% possession and an 89% pass accuracy from 606 passes. Both sides committed 17 fouls each.
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3rd midfielder with this record on debut
De Bruyne is the third midfielder to score on his debut for Napoli in the three-points per-win era in Serie A (since 1994-5) after Jonathan de Guzman (vs Genoa in 2014) and Franceso Moriero (vs Bologna in 2000).
Information
13-match unbeaten run for Napoli
Napoli are on a 13-match unbeaten run in Serie A (W8 D5). This is the longest run in top 5 European Leagues currently. The last time Napoli enjoyed a better unbeaten run was between April and November 2022 (19).