Filip Stankovic’s surprising insight

Had Napoli come away from the Pier Luigi Penzo stadium with three points, no one would have had anything to complain about. On Saturday, Massimiliano Allegri’s side did not play well, but Venezia played even worse. However, they scored a goal, and that was enough. Napoli, on the other hand, failed to do so – first due to a lack of precision and haste, and then because Filip Stanković stood in the way between them and the goal.

The Serbian goalkeeper had a brilliant Saturday against the Neapolitans – the sort of day that doesn’t come along very often for a goalkeeper. A series of decisive saves began after sixty minutes of play and culminated in the 89th minute when Filip Stanković parried yet another shot from the Napoli players, thus allowing himself and his team-mates to celebrate their first points of a season that had got off to a dreadful start with six defeats in their first six matches.

‘Guanti sporchi’, however, is a column that pays no heed to the ninety minutes and focuses solely on a single moment, isolating the save – and that save alone – from its context. And the best save of Serie A’s eventful weekend was the one with which Filip Stanković parried Stanislav Lobotka’s shot. The Napoli midfielder’s effort would have been a stunning goal: a powerful, curling shot aimed directly at the far post. A goal the Neapolitans would certainly have deserved, but which the Venezia goalkeeper decided he wasn’t about to concede. And so he added beauty upon beauty. He threw himself into the air, stretching far beyond what one might expect from a goalkeeper under 1.90 metres tall, without even using his other arm for support. He wouldn’t have had time for that. Because Filip Stanković didn’t see Stanislav Lobotka’s shot coming; he sensed it and followed that instinct right through to the end, until the improbable became reality. The amazement in the eyes and reactions of his team-mates made all this even more evident.

 

1. Filip Stanković in the 83rd minute of Venezia v Napoli 0–1 – 5 points

2. Lucas Perri in the 32nd minute of Parma v Torino 0–3 – 3 points

3. Filip Stanković in the 67th minute of Venezia v Napoli 0–1 – 1 point

1. Lorenzo Palmisani (Frosinone), 12 points
2. Filip Stanković (Venezia), 11 points
3. Chrīstos Mandas (Lazio), 7 points
4. David De Gea (Fiorentina), Mike Maignan (Milan), Guglielmo Vicario (Juventus), 6 points
7. Guglielmo Falcone (Lecce), 5 points
8. Edoardo Corvi (Parma), Josep Martínez (Inter), Alex Meret (Napoli), Maduka Okoye (Udinese), Lucas Perri (Torino), 3 points
13. Elia Caprile (Cagliari), Vanja Milinković-Savić (Napoli) 1 point

 

What you have just read is "Guanti sporchi", a light-hearted football-themed piece about Serie A’s number ones and the save that somehow made the football weekend all the better – at least from the perspective of that minority who dress differently from the rest on the pitch. You can find all previous instalments here.