Neres injury and three red cards: Lazio 0-2 Napoli ends in chaos

Antonio Conte has another injury concern to deal with following Napoli’s 2-0 victory against Lazio on Sunday, which ended with three red cards, two just before full-time. 

The Partenopei climbed back into second place in the Serie A table with a 2-0 victory against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday afternoon, Leonardo Spinazzola and Amir Rrahmani with the goals. This was Conte’s first ever victory over Maurizio Sarri in a competitive fixture. 

You can see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.

Despite the victory, life was not made easier for Conte on Sunday following a second-half injury to in-form winger David Neres.

The Brazilian, who has six goals and an assist across his last 11 appearances, went down injured in the 66th minute after playing a routine short pass to Stanislav Lobotka in the right half-space. The ball was knocked out of play for Neres to receive treatment shortly afterwards. 

Neres was in visible pain while clutching his ankle, and required help from two members of Napoli’s medical staff while making his way off the pitch. He winced in pain each time he had to put weight down on his left foot. 

The Brazilian was eventually replaced by Pasquale Mazzocchi in the 70th minute.

Neres adds to a Napoli injury list that already includes Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Billy Gilmour and Sam Beukema. 

In a chaotic end to proceedings, Lazio vs. Napoli ended with just 19 players on the pitch. 

Tijjani Noslin was the first to go: The stand-in Biancocelesti striker was booked in the 69th minute for his role in an off-the-ball scuffle, and was then given his marching orders for a clumsy challenge on Alessandro Buongiorno in the 81st. 

Then, just a few minutes before the full-time whistle, both Mazzocchi and Adam Marusic were shown straight red cards for instigating a scrap on the touchline. 

The full-backs clashed on the ball, Marusic appeared to lightly kick out, which drew a response from Mazzocchi. Before you knew it, they were both grappling each other, Conte was in the middle trying to separate them while half the dugouts emptied. 

Both players earned straight red cards and will be suspended for the 19th round of Serie A fixtures.