In the end, you never stop loving your own kid. Even when, technically speaking, you aren’t related. The Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri has a way with words, and his response to a TV host’s question about how he would greet Gonzalo Higuaín on Saturday was perfection. “Like a son who has pissed you off,” he explained.
Higuaín enraged more than just Sarri when he joined Juventus in the summer. Napoli supporters variously set fire to his shirt, fitted it to public bins, or attempted to flush it down the toilet. “Core ‘ngrato” read the sign placed above his statuette in the window of renowned presepe artist Genny Di Virgilio. It translates to “ungrateful heart”.
Those words, which form the title of a classic Neapolitan song, entered into the footballing lexicon when they were draped across the gates of the Stadio San Paolo in April 1975. Back then, they were dedicated to José Altafini – another South American striker who had left Napoli for Juventus, and who subsequently scored against the Partenopei in a key title decider.
In truth, it was a harsh judgement on Altafini. He had never wanted to leave Napoli, but at 34 years old found himself out of contract and surplus to requirements. The same could not be said of Higuaín, whose move this summer was motivated by a desire for silverware.
He had stressed in interviews that this was nothing personal, and that he still felt a deep affection for the fans in Naples. Those feelings were not reciprocated. To leave was one thing, but could he not have gone abroad, rather than to a direct rival? As Napoli prepared to travel to Turin on Saturday, supporters launched a campaign on social media imploring their players not to shake his hand.
That was always destined to fail. Professional footballers understand the reality of their business, and for all that Higuaín’s former team-mates might wish he had stayed, they respected his decision to go. A group even called him on FaceTime as they dined out together after Wednesday’s win away to Empoli, teasing him about his weight and encouraging him not to be shy with his pre-game meal.
Sarri himself claimed not to have been in touch with Higuaín since the transfer. But football families do not require constant contact to stay strong. Even the player’s real father understood the Napoli manager’s sentiment. “They always had a wonderful relationship,” Jorge Higuaín told Tuttosport. “Gonzalo gave [Sarri] a lot, but he owes him a lot as well.”
The striker hardly looked ungrateful, as he strode over to Sarri before kick-off on Saturday and wrapped his arms around him . “He is still a son to me,” the manager would say later. “But his transfer to Juventus did hurt me a lot. I still feel a great deal of affection towards him, and I think 10 years from now we’ll get back in touch.”
Sooner than that might still be too painful, given how the rest of Saturday night panned out. Napoli gave Juventus as good as they got in Turin, only to be sunk, inevitably, by a goal from Higuaín.
Ever since his transfer was announced, debate has raged over whether the striker could possibly be worth his €90m fee. One common argument in support was that this move strengthened Juventus at the expense of a direct rival. They would not only be adding Higuaín to their own team but subtracting him from last season’s runners-up.
That position was undermined by the early success of his Napoli replacement. Arkadiusz Milik had slotted into Sarri’s team seamlessly, not only scoring goals but arguably doing a better job than his predecessor of holding the ball up and bringing team-mates into play.
But then Milik got injured, and his replacement, Manolo Gabbiadini, suspended. Suddenly, Napoli found themselves without any available centre-forwards in their first-team squad. Dries Mertens was deployed as a false nine in games against Besiktas and Atalanta, and performed well.
He did a solid job against Juventus, running the channels and occasionally threatening to get on the end of a cross. On another day, against a lesser opponent, that would have been enough. Unfortunately, it takes something more to win on a night such as this. Juventus’s win over Napoli was defined by individual brilliance – and blunders – more than any real concerted domination by the hosts.
Play was even, both teams enjoying spells in the ascendancy – not to mention similar shares of possession and shots on goal. The Bianconeri took the lead on a fine finish from Leonardo Bonucci after a colossal gaffe from Faouzi Ghoulam, who contrived to scoop an attempted clearance back over his own shoulder into the middle of the penalty box. Napoli equalised through José Callejón, picked out by Lorenzo Insigne with a well-rehearsed chip over the defence.
You could fault Sarri for his decision to take the Italian off a few minutes later, sending in Emmanuele Giaccherini in a move that hinted at a desire to protect the draw. And yet there was still nothing inevitable about Juve’s winner. Higuaín simply took matters into his own hands, serving Sami Khedira with a floated pass and then running on to blast the German’s lay-off into the bottom corner of the net.
He refused to celebrate, raising his hands apologetically to the crowd even though no Napoli fans had been permitted to travel to the game. Altafini, if he was watching, might have felt let down. “If he scores, he must celebrate,” the original ‘Core n’grato’ had said before the game. “He wouldn’t be celebrating against Napoli, but celebrating for his team and his own fans.”
The rest of Juventus’s players were happy enough to lead the festivities on Higuaín’s behalf. Early in the season it may be, but this was a goal to reinforce the sense that Juventus will cruise to a sixth straight Scudetto. Victory moved them seven points ahead of Napoli, and Roma’s draw with Empoli a day later ensured that they would finish the weekend four clear of any other team as well.
This was Higuaín’s seventh goal in 11 Serie A appearances for Juventus – an impressive figure when you consider that he has not played all that well. The sense remains that the Old Lady has not quite worked out how to make the most of her new toyboy, and he often looked isolated on Saturday without Paulo Dybala – injured and watching from the stands – to bridge the gap between him and the midfield.
None of which will really matter if he keeps on scoring decisive goals in the biggest games. As Bonucci put it afterwards: “Luckily, now, Gonzalo plays for us.”
Talking points
• Before we move on from ungrateful hearts, how about Empoli goalkeeper
Lukasz Skorupski – on loan from Roma – pulling out all of the stops to deny
his parent club? The Giallorossi were unable to find a breakthrough despite taking 23 shots over the course of the game.
• At time of writing, Frank de Boer is still the manager of Inter, although
reports on Monday morning suggested that this state of affairs might only
last a few more hours. Sunday’s defeat at Sampdoria was his seventh in 14
games across all competitions. If he does survive until the end of this week,
it might only be because the club’s directors conclude that it makes more
sense to delay a change until the international break.
• Highlight of the weekend: trying to work out what exactly Marco Giampaolo
was communicating to his Sampdoria players. It took two-and-a-half months, but Crotone have finally won their first Serie A match. Which is for the best, really, because if they hadn’t then their match against Chievo might have been chiefly remembered for the spectacular squabble between Marcello Trotta and Diego Falcinelli over who would get to take the penalty from which they eventually went 1-0 up.
• Milan are back up to third, cancelling out the midweek collapse against Genoa with a 1-0 win at home to Pescara – sealed with an under-the-wall free-kick from Giacomo Bonaventura. It wasn’t all plain sailing, though, with Gianluigi Donnarumma called on to make some important saves, and Carlos Bacca getting in a huff after his substitution, but the Rossoneri have plenty to celebrate. Best of all, they can now put their feet up for a week, whilst many of their direct rivals engage in another European round. The same goes for Lazio, who went fourth after beating Sassuolo. Ciro Immobile got their second, and has now scored in five consecutive Serie A matches.
• Something new to look out for on Serie A Sundays: Papu Gómez’s armbands. Earlier this month, Atalanta’s stand-in captain wore one featuring pictures of his mum, sister and wife – to celebrate Argentinian Mother’s Day. This weekend, he rolled out a natty Halloween-themed number.
Results: Atalanta 3-0 Genoa, Crotone 2-0 Chievo, Empoli 0-0 Roma, Lazio 2-1 Sassuolo, Milan 1-0 Pescara, Sampdoria 1-0 Internazionale, Bologna 0-1 Fiorentina, Juventus 2-1 Napoli
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juventus | 11 | 15 | 27 |
| 2 | Roma | 11 | 14 | 23 |
| 3 | AC Milan | 11 | 3 | 22 |
| 4 | Lazio | 11 | 10 | 21 |
| 5 | Napoli | 11 | 8 | 20 |
| 6 | Atalanta | 11 | 3 | 19 |
| 7 | Fiorentina | 10 | 3 | 16 |
| 8 | Torino | 10 | 7 | 15 |
| 9 | Genoa | 10 | 2 | 15 |
| 10 | Chievo | 11 | -1 | 15 |
| 11 | Inter Milan | 11 | -1 | 14 |
| 12 | Sampdoria | 11 | -4 | 14 |
| 13 | Udinese | 10 | -3 | 13 |
| 14 | Bologna | 11 | -4 | 13 |
| 15 | Sassuolo | 11 | -5 | 13 |
| 16 | Cagliari | 10 | -6 | 13 |
| 17 | Pescara | 11 | -7 | 7 |
| 18 | Empoli | 11 | -11 | 7 |
| 19 | Palermo | 10 | -12 | 6 |
| 20 | Crotone | 11 | -11 | 5 |
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