Napoli rewarded for team effort – Benitez

Rafael Benitez hailed Napoli’s unity after they returned to the winners list in Serie A on Sunday.

Jose Callejon scored the only goal of the game in the 28th minute as Napoli won 1-0 at Sassuolo.

Sunday’s narrow triumph ended Napoli’s three-game winless streak and eased the pressure on coach Benitez.

Speaking to Sky Sport Italia post-game, Benitez said Napoli were balanced throughout as they kept their first clean sheet of the campaign.

“I see this as a victory for the team that rewarded our mentality,” the Spaniard said.

“We only suffered for the final 10 minutes. Clearly every victory can help and we proved that we deserved more from this season.

“Today we were all united and we earned three important points. We worked very well in defence and Sassuolo only created problems with long balls. We were balanced.

“I think we still need to improve, but I am satisfied with this victory. We know that we are a strong club who deserved to win more games this term.”

Benitez also leapt to the defence of misfiring striker Gonzalo Higuain.

Higuain has not scored in Serie A this season, though the Argentina international set-up Callejon for his goal at Stadio Citta del Tricolore.

“Higuain hasn’t scored in Serie A yet, but he can make the difference with assists too,” said Benitez.

“We know that there are many players in this squad who can get goals.”