January 18, (THEWILL) – Napoli qualified for the 2024 Supercoppa Italiana final on Thursday night, with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Fiorentina in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Second-half substitute Alessio Zerbin netted a quick-fire brace in the closing stages to round off an ultimately straightforward semi-final win for the Serie A title holders.
The 2014 Supercoppa winners, competing in the revamped four-team format this year, will now face either league leaders Inter Milan or Lazio in Monday’s showpiece final. Giovanni Simeone had earlier given Napoli a first-half lead after bundling home Juan Jesus’ pinpoint cross on 22 minutes.
Jonathan Ikone spurned a golden chance to equalise for Fiorentina just before half-time, crashing a penalty off the crossbar after Mario Rui’s foul on Giacomo Bonaventura. The Viola laboured in search of a leveller but found the Napoli defence in a stubborn mood as the clock ticked down.
Walter Mazzarri’s side stayed solid before striking twice in the closing ten minutes to put the result beyond doubt. Substitute Zerbin, introduced in place of Pasquale Mazzocchi, kept his composure to slot home Napoli’s second on 84 minutes. The youngster then raced clear two minutes later to calmly beat Pietro Terracciano and effectively book his side’s place in Monday’s showdown.
Napoli will now await the outcome of Saturday’s second semi-final between Serie A pacesetters Inter and Coppa Italia holders Lazio. The final presents an opportunity for silverware in what is shaping up to be an intriguing Scudetto race this season between Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
