Pepe Reina gives Napoli a big helping hand with The Save

We’ll get to Dries Mertens and his two goals. We’ll get to the bit where he dropped on to all fours and cocked his leg towards the corner flag like a dog preparing to empty its bladder, as well. We’ll get to talking about 21-year-old Marko Rog, too, and his star turn in midfield. We’ll get to discussing how Maurizio Sarri nailed his team selection, while Luciano Spalletti’s gamble backfired.

To tell the story of Napoli’s triumph over Roma in the Derby del Sole, however, it makes sense to start at the end. Because the context of the above-mentioned acts would look very different if it wasn’t for a save made by Pepe Reina in the 93rd minute.

Already, that description feels inadequate. This was not just a save but The Save – one foretold in the ancient prophecies. OK, that’s stretching things a bit, but this did feel like it might have been the moment Reina had in mind when he told Mediaset last December: “The most beautiful save of my career is one I have not made yet. I know it will give my team a great hand.”

Saturday’s stop met that criterion. Napoli were leading 2-1 deep into second-half added-time at the Stadio Olimpico – a venue where they had not taken a point off Roma for five years, and where no team had done so in Serie A this season.

Reina was moving left across his goal, weight fully shifted in that direction as he bent his knees and prepared to dive after a Diego Perotti shot arrowing its way towards the bottom corner. But then the ball struck the heel of Kalidou Koulibaly 12 yards out. It ricocheted up towards the far top corner.

In a fraction of a second Reina adjusted, contorting his body back to the right and stretching out a paw to barely push the ball on to the crossbar. As it fell back to earth, he controlled it with one foot and hooked it behind with the other, denying Antonio Rüdiger the rebound.

It was a save that only looked more impressive for its context. Napoli had been cruising towards victory moments earlier – up by two goals and almost a third when Rog surged through only to be denied by Wojciech Szczesny. But then Roma rallied for one final assault. Mohamed Salah hit the post, before Kevin Strootman pulled a goal back in the 89th minute.

Just like that, the game changed complexion. Roma poured forward and Napoli’s defending fell apart. Salah was left untracked as he ran on to a chipped pass on the edge of the six-yard area before Reina took the ball off his toes. The goalkeeper could only watch as Perotti flashed a shot inches wide of his left-hand upright.

Reina’s save preserved the win for Napoli. It might yet prove a turning point for a side that had lost three times in four games across all competitions. Identical 3-1 defeats in the first legs of their Champions League last-16 tie with Real Madrid and Coppa Italia semi-final against Juventus had left a once-promising season at risk of fading into nothing. Even Napoli’s place in Serie A’s top three was at risk following defeat to Atalanta.

Victory did not renew any serious Scudetto ambitions for Sarri’s team, who still trail Juventus by 10 points even after the champions drew away to Udinese on Sunday. But it did allow them to increase their advantage over the chasing pack while closing within two points of Roma in second. Crucially, it should serve to restore lost confidence before Madrid’s visit this week.

And who could be a more fitting saviour under such circumstances than Reina? The Spaniard is adored in Naples perhaps more than any other team-mate. He is not the most consistent performer at 34 years old – indeed, he was glaringly at fault for Juventus’s second goal in the cup last week – but he has embraced life in the city with irresistible enthusiasm. This is a man who stops his car for photo opportunities at strangers’ weddings and who commissioned an artist to turn his kids’ bedroom into one giant Napoli tribute.

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Mertens, too, is well-liked by fans, in part because he has also been a great advocate for Naples. He has spoken about how his friends who run a travel agency in Belgium used to discourage people from visiting a place they perceived as dirty and dangerous. After coming to stay with him they now sell holidays enthusiastically to “the most beautiful place in the world”.

Of course, Mertens’ popularity has also risen in line with his scoring form. A brace here brought his league tally for this season to 18 goals, an extraordinary figure when you consider he has only started that same number of games, and was playing on the left wing until Arkadiusz Milik was injured in October.

Defined initially as a false nine, Mertens looks more and more like a natural striker. His finish for the first goal was clinical, lifted effortlessly over Szczesny, and his back-post run for the second was timed to perfection. His canine celebration paid tribute to Finidi George – who did similar after producing a chipped goal of his own for Nigeria against Greece at the 1994 World Cup – as well as his own love of dogs. He and his wife adopted a stray and support several kennels in the city.

The other player catching the eye this weekend was Rog. This was the midfielder’s first league start for Napoli, yet he hardly seemed overawed. When not baring down on goal, he could be found bullying Daniele De Rossi, tussling with Radja Nainggolan or pirouetting beyond Edin Dzeko and nutmegging Strootman.

His performance was a reward for the faith of Sarri, who had been impressed with Rog against Juventus. Roma fans, though, will wonder how things might have gone differently if Spalletti had retained Salah in his own starting XI, and perhaps stuck with a three-man defence instead of reverting unexpectedly to a 4-2-3-1.

On another day, such misjudgements could have been overcome with the fury of Roma’s final assault. On this day, though, they had the misfortune to run into Reina.

Talking points

Even when Juventus draw, they somehow win. This was their first Serie A stalemate in more than a year, yet Roma’s defeat means they still end the weekend one point further ahead at the top than they were before the weekend.

That said, even on a flat day, this is a lesson in tracking back from Alex Sandro.

This was a banner weekend for dogs in Serie A. A day after Mertens’ celebration, we had Andrea Belotti filling in for Marco Benassi as the Torino captain and marking the occasion with an armband which featured a photo of his pet pooch, Angy, together with his girlfriend Giorgia Duro. He made sure that they got plenty of airtime with an eight-minute hat-trick to see his team past Palermo. Afterwards he told reporters: “They are two very important people in my life.”

Just the five goals for Inter away to Cagliari, as the Nerazzurri extended their habit of beating everyone except the top three under Stefano Pioli’s leadership. Among the many bright notes was Roberto Gagliardini opening his account for the club, and then celebrating by pretending to stir a pot of polenta, as he had promised to do on a recent appearance on the TV Talk Show E poi c’è Cattelan.

Football as performance art – Adam Masina sums up Bologna’s entire season in one throw-in:

As bad as Bologna are, that should not take away from the performance of Ciro Immobile, who struck twice and now has 16 goals on the season. Not since Hernán Crespo banged in 26 in 2000-01 has any Lazio player scored more.

Results: Atalanta 0-0 Fiorentina, Bologna 0-2 Lazio, Cagliari 1-5 Internazionale, Crotone 0-0 Sassuolo, Empoli 0-2 Genoa, Torino 3-1 Palermo, Udinese 1-1 Juventus, Milan 3-1 Chievo, Roma 1-2 Napoli, Sampdoria 3-1 Pescara.