Antonio Conte’s Napoli looked toothless and lacking in ideas during a shock 3-0 defeat to Hellas Verona, as Dailon Rocha Livramento and Daniel Mosquera made dream Serie A debuts.
Both sides already stuttered in the Coppa Italia this summer, the Partenopei needing penalties to get past Modena and Hellas losing 2-1 to Cesena. Victor Osimhen, Michael Folorunsho and Mario Rui were left out pending transfers, plus Alessandro Buongiorno with a sprained ankle and Alessio Zerbin suspended. The hosts missed Juan Manuel Cruz, with Tomas Suslov not at 100 per cent.
Verona lost Serdar after just 20 minutes to an injury and Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa had the first chance on 33 minutes, nodding just over from a Giovanni Di Lorenzo cross.
Stanislav Lobotka swept the finish inches over the bar from the edge of the box on a Matteo Politano pull-back, but Napoli simply had to score on the stroke of half-time.
A terrible back-pass sent Kvaratskhelia clear on goal and he had his eyes only on the goalkeeper, not realising that Jackson Tchatchoua was flying across to make a result-saving block. After that move, the Georgian felt dizzy and asked to come off, having received a knock to the back of the head from Pawel Dawidowicz in the opening minutes.
Kastanos went close for Hellas after the restart, his fierce left-foot curler bending just wide from the edge of the area.
It was a warning, as Verona opened the scoring with a well-worked counter-attack, as Darko Lazovic got down the left and rolled across for Rocha Livramento to just flick it past Alex Meret with his toes, having got in front of Juan Jesus.
Anguissa was unlucky not to draw Napoli level 10 minutes later, his first-time swerving strike from the edge of the area thumping the frame of the goal.
Di Lorenzo’s cross-shot was palmed round the near post, but it was Verona who doubled their lead. Suslov battled to win the ball back in midfield and Ondrej Duda swept the first-time pass through the middle for substitute Daniel Mosquera, who kept his cool on his Serie A debut to beat Meret.
It could’ve been 3-0, as Meret flew to palm away the Mosquera volley after Tchatchoua blazed past Pasquale Mazzocchi.
Cyril Ngonge tested Lorenzo Montipò, his former teammate, but otherwise Napoli rarely troubled the Verona goalkeeper.
Instead, Hellas rounded out the scoreline for 3-0 in stoppages when Harroui got away from Matias Olivera and pulled back, the scuffed Lazovic finish turning into an accidental assist for Mosquera.
Conte's Nightmare Start
Antonio Conte apologized to Napoli fans after Sunday's 3-0 humiliation at Verona in his first Serie A match in charge, while last season's surprise package Bologna were held to a 1-1 draw by Udinese.
“We have to say sorry to our supporters because it was a second half that was, well it’s difficult even to assess what happened,” said a baffled Conte to DAZN.
“In the first half there was only one team on the pitch and it was Napoli. Then we came out for the second half maybe too satisfied with ourselves for the first half performance even though we were still goalless. But it wasn’t the same attitude as in the first half.”
“I’m the coach and it’s my responsiblity, so I apologize. It was a debacle and it’s my fault.”
The former Juventus, Chelsea and Italy coach also warned against heightened expectations from fans as he waits on reinforcements while Victor Osimhen, the star of Napoli’s historic 2023 title triumph, has been frozen out for pushing for a transfer.
Kvaratskhelia's Injury: A Turning Point
And although Napoli were comfortably the better team in the first half the loss of talisman Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to injury just before the break proved crucial.
Kvaratskhelia was hurt by Pawel Dawidowicz after a last-ditch Jackson Tchatchoua tackle denied the Georgian star a chance to open the scoring.
With Kvaratskhelia off Napoli had much less cutting edge and Verona took the lead when Livramento neatly guided home Darko Lazovic's pinpoint cross.
Substitute Mosquera secured the points with a debut goal of his own 15 minutes later after chaos in midfield ended with the Colombian bursting through and confidently rolling home past Alex Meret.
And Mosquera made the scoreline even more embarrassing for Napoli and Conte in stoppage time when left all alone to tap in Lazovic's low pass.
“It’s crazy, we drive every day to training together, we’re both strikers but we’re good teammates on and off the field,” said Cape Verde forward Livramento of his friendship with Mosquera.
Verona's Dream Debutants
Napoli were punished for a number of defensive errors and will be looking to improve in their next fixture.
With a new manager and several new players, there is undoubtedly a period of adjustment for the Partenopei as they seek to regain the winning form that saw them lift the title just one year ago. However, the reality is that Conte needs to make significant changes if he is to guide Napoli back to the top of the table.
Player Ratings
Napoli's poor showing should not take away from what was a super performance from Paolo Zanetti’s side. Substitute Daniel Mosquera (9) grabbed a brace on his debut and surely goes away as the player of the match, despite only coming on with 17 minutes of regular time left to play.
Ondrej Duda (7.5) put in a solid display in the middle of the park, while Jackson Tchatchoua was equally impressive at full-back.
Hellas Verona
- Montipo – 6.5
- Tchatchoua – 7.5
- Magnani – 6
- Coppola – 6
- Frese – 6
- Duda – 7.5
- Serdar – 6
- Kastanos – 7
- Livramento – 7
- Lazovic – 7.5
- Tengstedt – 6
Napoli
- Meret – 5
- Di Lorenzo – 5.5
- Rrahmani – 5
- Juan Jesus – 4
- Mazzocchi – 5
- Anguissa – 6
- Lobotka – 5.5
- Spinazzola – 5
- Politano – 6.5
- Kvaratskhelia – 6
- Simeone – 5
