Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne said Diego Maradona’s death hurts as the city suffers after the Serie A side donned Argentina-style shirts to honour the club great in their 4-0 rout of rivals Roma.
Maradona – arguably football’s greatest ever player who led Napoli to their only Scudetto honours in 1987 and 1990 – died of natural causes at the age of 60 on Wednesday.
After beating Rijeka in the Europa League on Thursday, Napoli played their first Serie A match since Maradona’s passing on Sunday and it was an emotional occasion at the Stadio San Paolo.
Napoli sported a Maradona-themed jersey, which consisted of light blue and white stripes instead of the iconic all-blue shirt and it proved an inspirational strip as the Partenopei equalled their largest margin of victory against Roma in Serie A, having also routed the capital club 4-0 in 1980 and 1971.
Insigne – born and bred in Naples – opened the scoring with a free-kick on the half-hour mark before reaching for a Maradona shirt and kissing it as he celebrated.
Fabian Ruiz, Napoli’s all-time leading goalscorer Dries Mertens and Matteo Politano were also on target.
“The atmosphere certainly gave us extra motivation, as we wanted to pay homage to our idol,” Insigne, the only player since 2012-13 to score at least one goal and assist at least one in each of the past nine seasons, told Sky Sport Italia.
“It hurts and we cared more than ever tonight to put in a great performance for him and the city that is suffering.”
Napoli moved up to fifth position in Serie A, six points adrift of unbeaten leaders AC Milan.
Gennaro Gattuso also earned his 50th career victory as a head coach in the Italian top flight, while becoming the first Napoli boss to win his first two Serie A encounters against Roma.
“There is a sense of sadness, but at this moment I think the city must also show common sense,” Gattuso said. “I am seeing too many people going around without their masks.
“Maradona is a legend, everyone knows that, and I understand the desire to express that affection, but I hope from tomorrow the city will get back to being sensible, or we’ll all pay the consequences later.”
