Attacker Goran Pandev continued his good form for Napoli with a goal and two assists during today’s 6:1 thumping of Genoa.

With Ezequiel Lavezzi out with an injury, the Napoli manager started Goran Pandev up front where he was partnered by Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamsik.  Those three players were firing on all cylinders as the Napoli attack presented many problems to the Genoa defense.  In the 19th minute, with Napoli leading 1:0, Pandev controlled a goal kick from the Napoli keeper, then went running towards the goal before passing the ball to Hamsik whose first effort was blocked but he scored on the rebound to give the home side a 2:0 lead.  Several minutes later, in the 24th minute, Pandev sent a through ball to Cavani who then scored a nice goal with a clever chip over the Genoa keeper.  Replays showed that maybe Cavani was slightly offside but the assistant referee waved play on and Cavani scored his second goal of the game. 

Pandev then scored a goal himself just before halftime when he received a pass from Hamsik before making a run towards goal.  The Genoa defense did a terrible job of closing down Pandev who then scored a goal with a left footed shot from the edge of the area past the hapless Genoa keeper.  Goran eventually played until the 77th minute of today’s game when he was substituted by fellow striker Cristiano Lucarelli.  Overall, Goran was pretty active, especially in the 1st half, and will now get more playing time for Napoli since Lavezzi is expected to miss several weeks with an injury.

Video of the first assist by Pandev (at 0:25), second assist (at 1:28) and goal (at 2:13):

https://youtube.com/watch?v=iUWOpwRgsek