Meret: ‘Napoli want to stay top of the table’ | OneFootball

Alex Meret admits it was ‘a game of two halves’ for Napoli, as his heroics avoided a Genoa fightback from 2-0 down. ‘We want to stay at the top of the table.’

The Partenopei dominated the first half and had taken a commanding lead within 23 minutes thanks to headers from Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa and Amir Rrahmani.

However, Andrea Pinamonti got one back to spark the passionate Marassi atmosphere and Meret – plus the woodwork – held out under siege for the 2-1 victory.

“It was a game of two halves,” Meret told DAZN.

“In the first, Genoa sat back and waited for us, we controlled the initiative and created several chances, converting two of them.

“After the break, they were much more aggressive, pressed us all over the field and caused us a lot of problems. We did well to resist to the end and bring home an important victory.”

Napoli and Meret enjoy top spot

epa11788851 Napoli�s defender Amir Rrahmani (2-L) celebrates with team-mate Juan Jesus (L) after scoring the 0-2 goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match Genoa CFC vs SSC Napoli at Luigi Ferraris stadium in Genoa, Italy, 21 December 2024. EPA-EFE/STRINGER

The result at least does allow Napoli to spend the night on top of the Serie A table, awaiting Atalanta’s match with Empoli on Sunday and then Inter hosting Como on Monday evening.

“Every match is important at this stage of the season,” added Meret.

“We’ve got to keep up the pace with the teams ahead of us, because it is still very tight up there. We want to stay in the leading pack, work to improve and whittle down our errors.

“We’re pleased to be at the top of the table and want to stay there.”

It is certainly a very different situation to the one that Meret was experiencing this time last year, as Napoli are now 11 points better off than they were at this stage in 2023.

This was their third consecutive Serie A match without a clean sheet, four including the Coppa Italia elimination to Lazio.