Saturday February 9 2019
Ancelotti: 'Napoli deserved victory'

Carlo Ancelotti claims Napoli “dropped two points we would’ve deserved for attacking from start to finish” against Fiorentina.

The Partenopei failed to find the net for their third Serie A away fixture in a row, four games including the Coppa Italia.

“We dropped two points that we would’ve deserved for attacking from start to finish,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia after the 0-0 draw.

“In some ways, it was an impeccable performance, but we weren’t clinical enough in front of goal and were forced to make do with a point.

“It’s true we had a little more difficulty building from the back, as Fiorentina were pressing us high, but once we got past that, we did more than enough to deserve a victory.

“Fabian Ruiz is different to Marek Hamsik, but his partnership with Allan is very reliable and provides more attacking intent. It changes the vision of our game to a degree, but not much else.

“In the first half, we were giving Alex Meret too many back-passes that were difficult to handle, but we found a way out and then took control with numerous clear-cut scoring opportunities. We’ve just got to work on our finishing and keeping a cool head when clear on goal.”

Dries Mertens had two very good chances parried by the goalkeeper from point-blank range.

“Mertens is unlucky at the moment, as he created the chances with his movement, then lacked some sharpness in front of goal. Lafont deserves a lot of credit too for several excellent saves, including the one on Piotr Zielinski.”

The gap at the top of the table has been closed to eight points as of now, but Juventus visit Sassuolo tomorrow.

“The light of hope for the Scudetto is a little brighter this evening, not dimmer.”

Ancelotti was asked for updates on Raul Albiol and the departing Hamsik, who is just waiting for the all-clear to join Dalian Yifang.

“Albiol has this inflammation in the knee, we are evaluating it and over the next week we’ll have a more precise diagnosis.

“I said goodbye to Hamsik on Thursday, I haven’t seen him since.”

Watch Serie A live in the UK on Premier Sports.