Gattuso ‘happy that Lazio were disappointed’ with 1-1 draw at Napoli

Gattuso ‘happy that Lazio were disappointed’ with 1-1 draw at Napoli Gennaro Gattuso says he was pleased to find a disappointed Lazio dressing room after the Serie A leaders were held 1-1 by Napoli at the Maradona. With quotes via LaLazioSiamoNoi , the Biancocelesti coach told DAZN that the reaction showed how far his side’s mentality has come, even though their run of six straight league wins came to an end. Davide Frattesi gave Lazio the lead with his fourth goal of the season. However, half-time substitute Alfonso Pedraza turned the ball into his own net early in the second half, and the visitors needed several saves from Christos Mandas to hold on for a point. “It’s a difficult ground and a strong team. I went into the dressing room today and it was like a morgue,” Gattuso said. “We played a great first half, and in the early part of the second they pinned us back, but that was to be expected. “I like that the team is disappointed today. We’re proud of these lads. Coming here at a moment like this is never easy, so we have to be satisfied. I want to see more smiles. For me, the performance was there again today.” NAPLES, ITALY – NOVEMBER 08: Davide Frattesi of SS Lazio celebrates a opening goal during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and SS Lazio at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on November 08, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images) Gattuso on Frattesi and Noslin Gattuso praised Frattesi’s runs into the box, but said the midfielder still gets too fixated on having the ball at his feet. “Frattesi is stubborn, he goes crazy. He feels out of the game and wants to be on the ball. There are few players in Europe who attack space like him. We work on his bursts of speed so he can do things like this. He should do it more, but he gets fixated on wanting the ball. Today, in the first half too, with these breaks and runs into space, we could have scored a few more goals. We’ll take the performance, I’m satisfied.” Tijjani Noslin, who set up the opener from the left, also received praise from Gattuso. “He’s very intense. When he presses, he always does it with real aggression. He’s in good physical shape and I liked him in that position too. He’s become much more disciplined compared to the summer friendlies.” NAPLES, ITALY – NOVEMBER 08: Massimiliano Allegri, Manager of SSC Napoli, reacts during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and SS Lazio at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on November 08, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images) The draw leaves Lazio unbeaten after 11 games and top on 29 points, two clear of Roma. Gattuso has previously set his side a 40-point target, and he insisted the table is not something they should be thinking about yet. “We mustn’t look at it. Now we recover. The players have three days off, and then on Thursday we go again. We need to refuel and not look at anything. We don’t really belong up there, we have to take it day by day. “Today we showed courage again. We suffered, and we knew they’d put us in difficulty. We accepted that, and that’s mentality. These thoughts are for the last six or seven games. Right now, we need to keep banking points.” Lazio lost Josip Šutalo to a muscular problem in the first half, and Nuno Tavares was withdrawn at the break. Both will be assessed during the international break.