Hirving Lozano substituted at half-time as Napoli comfortably beat Spezia

Napoli’s grip on the Serie A title is stronger than ever after they comfortably saw off Spezia 3-0 on matchday 21. Mexico international Hirving Lozano started for Luciano Spaletti’s men but struggled to get into top gear at Stadio Alberto Picco and was substituted at half-time, after which his team netted the three goals which ultimately sealed them maximum points.

The numbers behind Lozano’s performance against Spezia

Lozano made his the 11th league start of the season, lining up on the right flank in attack alongside central striker Victor Osimhen and Jvicha Kvaratskhelia on the left. The Mexican’s performance earned him a Sofascore rating of 6.6, the second lowest among the Napoli players who started the match, after Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski. ‘Chucky’ was unable to have much of an impact on proceedings, shooting once - off target - successfully completing three dribbles and unsuccessfully attempting four crosses into the penalty area. In an up-and-down display, the winger lost the ball on seven occasions but all 14 of his attempted passes found their intended target.

Having had limited involvement in the game, Lozano was replaced at half-time by Matteo Politano and Napoli stepped things up in the second period. Serie A top scorer Victor Osimhen netted a double to take his league tally for the season to 16 and Kvaratskhelia converted from the penalty spot to take Gli Azzurri onto 56 points, a whopping 16 points clear of second-placed Inter.

Hiriving Lozano in and out of the Napoli side

Lozano has been in and out of the Spaletti’s side all season, making a total of 20 appearances (11 starts, nine from the bench) in the Italian top flight, scoring on three occasions. On a complete collapse will see Napoli fail to win the scudetto for the first time since 1989-90, which was Diego Maradona’s penultimate season at the club.