Napoli Beaten 2-1 by Parma in Gattuso’s Debut

Date: 15 December 2019 - 21:55

News ID: ۷۳۹۵۳

ROME (AP) — Gennaro Gattuso has his work cut out for him as Napoli’s new coach.
The Partenopei conceded an injury-time winner in a 2-1 loss at home to Parma on Saturday in Gattuso’s debut.
Gattuso was hired midweek to replace the fired Carlo Ancelotti — his former coach at AC Milan — but couldn’t prevent Napoli from extending its winless streak in the Italian league to eight matches.
Gervinho finished off a counterattack for Parma to decide the match.
Afterward, Gattuso said Napoli were struggling "psychologically.”
"Napoli are not used to such a long winless streak,” he said. "These players are used to challenging at the top of the table, so they are struggling to adapt. ... I accept full responsibility and blame for this loss.”
It was uphill from the start for Gattuso as Parma scored after only four minutes.
Dejan Kulusevski took advantage of a failed tackle by Kalidou Koulibaly and finished with a decisive shot inside the near post.
Making matters worse, Koulibaly was injured on the play and had to exit with an apparent thigh problem.
Napoli were awarded a penalty in first-half added time only to have the VAR cancel the call as video footage showed that Hernani barely touched Napoli midfielder Piotr Zieliński.
Gattuso put on Dries Mertens midway through the second half and the Belgium international made an immediate impact.