Napoli coach Rafael Benitez was fuming about the Stadio
Sant'Elia pitch after his team's 1-1 draw at Cagliari on Saturday.
Nene's ninth-minute opener was cancelled out by a Gonzalo
Higuain penalty in the first half as Napoli could only collect a point in the
Serie A clash.
Benitez's men missed a chance to close in on Juventus and
could enter the Christmas break 10 points behind the leaders.
The Spaniard labelled the pitch 'horrible' but said a
draw was far from the worst result against the 11th-placed Cagliari.
"In all honesty, it was difficult to play and move
the ball around quickly on a horrible pitch," Benitez told Sky Sport
Italia.
"We created more chances than Cagliari, but it was
not sufficient, as we should've scored two or three goals.
"It was a very important match for Cagliari in front
of their fans. In theory a draw here is not a bad result, but it is for us
because we're chasing the top of the table, even though it was very difficult
here.
"The ball did not roll evenly, so we had to go for
long passes and this created a gap between attack and midfield.
"Cagliari had few scoring opportunities and the defence
was strong tonight. If anything, we were lacking in attack rather than
defence."
Benitez insists he is unfazed by the points gap to
Juventus, who host Roma on January 5 in their first games back in the league.
He said he just wanted to see continual improvement from
his side as they aim to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
"The only thing I am worried about is seeing the
team continue to grow. We know there will be Juventus-Roma in January, so we
must focus only on our own results," Benitez said.
"We have one more point than we did yesterday.
"We are doing better than last season even after
playing the Champions League, so what more can we do? There are bound to be
occasional mistakes, but this team is growing."
Culled from Soccerway
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