Maurizio Sarri Insists His Side Deserved Their Last-Minute Winner Against Juventus

Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri has insisted that his Napoli side were value for their last-gasp win over Juventus on Sunday night, beating the Old Lady at the Allianz Stadium for the first time in their history to get within just a point of the league leaders.

The game looked to be drifting to a 0-0 draw until Kalidou Koulibaly blasted in a header in the 91st minute, giving the Light Blues all three points. Sarri's side controlled the game throughout, whilst seeing most of the ball and testing veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon on a few occasions.

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Quoted by Napoli's website after the game, Sarri said: "It was a huge joy and a wonderful gift that our fans deserved.

"Napoli are the symbol of an entire population who follow us always and everywhere. This win here tonight is hugely satisfying for us and for them. We’ve won here in one of the most significant arenas in Europe, against a team that has won six league titles on the bounce – they could also win a seventh."

Despite the title race being well and truly on, the Italian refused to get ahead of himself, but insisted his team will keep on fighting till the end. 

Sarri explained: "Juventus are still in first place. We will carry on giving 110%, but Juventus are ahead of us and their win percentage is impressive. We'll do all we can but it all depends on them.

"We’re facing Fiorentina on Sunday, and I’ve never won in Florence since managing Napoli. So it will be a really tough game, as it always is, and we need to start thinking about how we’ll go about it.

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Napoli are within a point of Juventus and now have a serious chance at clinching their first Serie A title since 1990, with the league leaders still facing trips to San Siro to face Inter and the Stadio Olimpico to face Roma. 

"This will be a very tough week to prepare," Sarri said. "I’ll have to shout at the boys a bit more than usual, because I want there to be balance and concentration. We need to keep our feet on the ground, at Castelvolturno, as always, and keep ourselves isolated from any euphoria.

"We know it’s tough to maintain calm, especially after a wonderful victory like the one today, but that is my job.”