Mazzarri thrilled with Napoli display

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri described his team’s performance as ‘almost perfect’ after their 1-0 win over Inter Milan at the San Paolo on Sunday.

Napolo were on top form as they edged Claudio Ranieri’s men courtesy of a first-half strike by Ezequiel Lavezzi, holding on until the end despite being reduced to 10 men when Salvatore Aronica was sent off in the 79th minute.

The 50-year-old coach was impressed by the spirit shown by his players, and went on to say that Sunday’s performance could have been even better than the 3-1 win against Chelsea last Tuesday.

“My guys were almost perfect tonight,” Mazzarri said. “I told them at half-time that I had nothing to correct, they were perfect both in defence and in attack, and didn’t give Inter’s players any space to express themselves.”

“We played very well, I’m more than happy with the great performance they put in. All we lacked was more goals, both before the 1-0 and after it. There were a couple of chances we had on the counter-attack.”

“We played a great game, perhaps even better than the one against Chelsea. Lavezzi has made great strides, he is scoring with more consistency, he has matured and has become a champion.”

The win saw Napoli climb to fifth place in the Serie A standings and Mazzarri said he was proud of how far the team had come since his appointment in October 2009.

“I am in love with these guys. When our adventure in Naples first started nobody imagined we would come this far,” he said.