Reja stands up for ref
Napoli Coach Edy Reja has defended the referee who awarded two highly debatable penalties in the 3-1 victory over Juventus.
“From my position on the bench they both seemed to be very clear spot-kicks,” said the tactician before he viewed the slow-motion replays of the incidents.
Giorgio Chiellini appeared to cleanly tackle Ezequiel Lavezzi for the first penalty, then Marcelo Zalayeta dived over Gianluigi Buffon.
“Looking at the Zalayeta replay, it does seem to be dubious,” confessed Reja. “From pitch side the striker’s movement seemed normal. You get a different impression when seeing it at normal speed than slowed down.”
Instead, he preferred to focus on the fine performance of his Napoli squad in their first victory over Juve since 1990.
“We closed down all the spaces very well and, despite the fact they were playing with three forwards, had few real scoring opportunities.
“In the first half we were more aggressive and counter-attacking, partly thanks to an excellent game from Manuele Blasi. We penetrated from the flanks, but Lavezzi also needs a lot of space to really express himself.”
Napoli are currently in fifth place and doing remarkably well for a side that had not seen Serie A in seven years.
“We have some physically strong players who also have great technique, such as Blasi and Marek Hamsik, while Zalayeta brings international experience. Lavezzi and Walter Gargano are young, but have real personality. I can’t take much credit for this squad, as it’s easy with these players
next game Camo will be back and we will have much more depth or atleast some balls will come from the right
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