Наполи Женщины beat Парма Женщины 1:0 in the third group stage of the Coppa Italia on Saturday. The match ended with a single goal in the second half, and it was enough to lift Napoli off the bottom of the standings. By then the visitors had already shown they were struggling to find their rhythm.
L. Faurskov scored in the 63rd minute to settle the affair. The striker was substituted off in the 86th minute, which tells you she had already done her job. And here's the thing — the goal came after a period where both sides were feeling each other out.
The first half produced just one booking, a yellow for T. Pettenuzzo in the 35th minute. Parma made a change at the break with B. Georgsdottir coming on. The hosts were trying to impose themselves, but to be fair neither side created anything worth writing home about.
After the restart A. Carcassi picked up a yellow in the 52nd minute. Napoli opened the floodgates with three Parma substitutions on the hour mark, bringing on C. Dompig, M. Carstensen and G. Distefano all at once. They were trying to turn it around after falling behind.
Parma kept throwing bodies into the mix — M. Uffren in the 78th, L. Dominguez in the 85th. Napoli held firm through the pressure, and Faurskov was taken off when the game was already safe. The visitors had lost their man and couldn't recover.
The result breaks what has been a difficult run for Napoli. They have now gone four matches without a win — losses to Inter, Lazio, and Juventus, plus a draw with Sassuolo. Things came to a head on Saturday, and the away end never stopped even though the match was already decided.
