Marko Rog scores his first Napoli goal in style

Marko Rog had an absolutely fantastic performance coming on as a substitute in Napoli’s win over Atalanta on Sunday, and he capped off that strong showing by finishing off a gorgeous counter-attack to score his first goal in a Napoli shirt.

The goal was set up brilliantly by Rog’s teammates, with Allan getting the move started by springing Jose Callejon free up the right side. Ziggy ran with the ball to draw up the Atalanta defense before sending in a low cross to Dries Mertens, one that the Belgian would normally use to shoot for himself. Mertens didn’t like the chance at hand, though, and sent the ball on to his left, knowing that a supporting run was coming — and there was Rog to thunder the ball home.

It was an excellent counter-attack, a great finish for Rog, and a huge moment for his career. After failing to score in his first season in Italy, Rog finally got on the scoresheet for his club, and put away a bogey club for his team in the process. It was a great way to cap off an eye-opening performance off the bench for Rog as well, and the young Croatian is going to be getting a lot more attention soon because of it.

Rog had a stellar performance on Sunday, and you shouldn’t be surprised if Maurizio Sarri starts giving him more long minutes off the bench and even more starts. He only started twice for Napoli in the league all season last year, but if he keeps putting in shifts like he did in Atalanta, Rog is going to start forcing Sarri to make some very difficult decisions with his starting lineups.