Rudi Garcia believes a draw against Lazio would have been a fairer result for his Napoli side: “We had a great first half.” The Partenopei dominated possession, having 61% of the ball and creating an XG of 1.29 goals, but failed to convert in front of goal, ultimately losing 2-1 on the night. Speaking of their domination of the ball in the post-game, Garcia explained why Napoli should have had a better result from the match, and why it’s better to be ahead against Lazio over 90 minutes:
“We deserved to be ahead at half-time. We had a great first half, especially the first few minutes. On Lazio’s only counter, they scored, 100% effective. Then we equalised immediately. In the second half we were less effective and I think Lazio deserved the win in the second half. But overall I think a draw would have been a fairer result. Also because the lads have to learn that when you can’t win, at least you don’t lose”.
“Against Lazio it’s better to be ahead than behind in the scoreline. If you have to chase the game you have to take risks, open yourself up, and with players like Felipe Anderson and Zaccagni you expose yourself. But we were also unlucky or not aggressive in some defensive situations. I didn’t expect a second half like that, where we managed the game much less well. But even so we could have equalised in the final. We were not very precise in attack. We made 22 shots in total, in the second half we never got a goal. So it’s difficult to score goals. Now there’s the break and we hope to recover everyone 100%, then the marathon starts and we don’t have time to complain.”
“In the first half we were good in the pressure and in the high recovery. We really could have done better in some situations. We must improve, be more cynical in the box. Kvara started very well, then he switched off a bit and lost some bad balls, but that’s normal. We knew he wasn’t 100 per cent, that he didn’t have 90 minutes in his legs. we had spoken before the match. Everything was normal about his playing time and his return as a starter. But I’m happy, he showed how much of a difference he can make. A good first half for him and a second half that was a bit off like the rest of the team.”
