/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45518848/461977834.0.jpg)
That match wasn't very much fun, but Napoli won in the end, even if it took all the way to penalties and almost an hour to get the win. Who stood out as Napoli's best player, though? Read on and cast your vote in the poll:
Starters
Mariano Andujar - 5 - Made the big save to put Napoli in a position to win the penalty shootout, but made a number of positioning and awareness errors that left Napoli in a lurch. Only got punished for it twice, but it could have been a lot worse with better finishing from Udinese.
Giandomenico Mesto - 6 - It was obvious that Mesto doesn't play a lot, as he was clearly shaking off rust throughout the match, especially when trying to get forward in attack. Did a solid enough job in defense, though, including a huge goal-line clearance very early in extra time.
Henrique Buss - 3 - Poor. Again.
Miguel Britos - 5 - Not great. Better than Henrique, but that's not saying much. Got himself stranded on too many Udinese attacks thanks to poor positioning.
Ivan Strinic - 7 - Clearly started to wear down and wobble in form as the later stages of the match unfolded, but kept Widmer and Bruno well in hand in the earlier stages of the match and supported the attack very well, including some excellent crosses that just weren't taken advantage of.
Walter Gargano - 6 - Not a bad match from Gargano, which is good to see after his last couple of matches. Was better in possession -- not great, but better -- and didn't get overrun in defense. Even had a near-goal when a try at a cross got deflected and banged off the base of the post.
Jorginho - 7 - Hey, Jorgy! This was a much better performance than we were seeing from Jorginho before the winter break. He was back to his tidy self in possession, scored on a penalty, and for most of the match he did OK in defense. Had some issues operating essentially as a lone holder once Gargano was subbed off, but that's not really his fault, since that's not a role he should be asked to do.
Manolo Gabbiadini - 5 - Had some nice moments, but also failed to execute supporting runs on several occasions that let down good service from Hamsik and Strinic. He'll get better.
Marek Hamsik - 8 - Scored an astounding goal in extra time, and was basically the entirety of Napoli's attack for long stretches of the match. With the way he was playing, Napoli could have scored four or five or more if not for the lack of execution elsewhere in attack.
Dries Mertens - 4 - Dries, if you want more starts, that was not the way to earn them. Missed a penalty, and the only useful thing he did in attack was get fouled a bunch of times. Poor on the ball, and awful off it, failing over and over and over to make the supporting runs he needed to make.
Duvan Zapata - 7 - Won two penalties, should have won a third, and was a constant disruption to Udinese's defense. Didn't get many scoring chances of his own, but did everything else extremely well.
Substitutes
Jonathan De Guzman - 5 - As in form as De Guzman was heading in to the winter break is as out of form as he is now. Was virtually a non-entity after coming on, giving little to the attack and providing next to nothing in defense.
Jose Callejon - 6 - Ran around a lot, which in and of itself was an improvement on Mertens and Gabbiadini. Struggled with his finishing, but at least he was getting in to positions where that was a factor.
Gonzalo Higuain - n/a - Because Rafa didn't put him on until the one hundred and eleventh minute of the match, didn't really have enough time to do anything but score his penalty.
Who was your Napoli man of the match today against Udinese in the Coppa Italia? Vote in the poll below, and talk about the performances in the comments!