Napoli grabbed two goals in the last 15 minutes to secure a 2-2 draw in their Serie A clash with Genoa at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Strikes from Mattia Bani and Mateo Retegui looked set to seal a memorable win for the home side against the reigning champions, who looked toothless for long periods of the game.
But substitute Giacomo Raspadori lashed home to halve the deficit on 76 minutes before Matteo Politano produced an exquisite finish from Piotr Zielinski’s lofted pass to snatch a point five minutes from time.
90+5 | finishes 2-2
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli)
Napoli started with none of the urgency expected of a side looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season, to Lazio two weeks ago, and clear-cut chances remained few and far between in the opening stages.
Victor Osimhen had a couple of half-chances for the visitors but Genoa keeper Josep Martinez was barely tested until he did well to block a powerful Giovanni Di Lorenzo effort on the half-hour.
Retegui responded by stinging the hands of Napoli keeper Alex Meret from long range before the home side snatched the opener four minutes before the interval.
The Napoli defence failed to deal with an Albert Gudmundsson corner and Koni De Winter’s flick-on found Bani at the far post to nod his side into the lead.
For all their possession Rudi Garcia’s men badly lacked a cutting edge and their troubles continued in the second period, with Mario Rui firing over the bar shortly after the restart.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was crowded out as he shaped to shoot and Napoli’s frustration grew as the home side extended their lead shortly before the hour mark.
Once again hesitation in the Napoli defence allowed Kevin Strootman’s ball into the box to spring clear to Retegui, who twisted to deliver a top-quality finish past Meret and put Genoa 2-0 up.
Stung by the home side’s superbly executed game-plan, Napoli finally rallied with Osimhen coming close, but Genoa served a reminder of their continuing threat as Gudmundsson sent in a curling effort that drifted just wide.
After another opportunity went begging for Kvaratskhelia, Napoli finally made their breakthrough in the 76th minute with a brilliant finish from substitute Raspadori.
His long-range effort set up a frantic finish with Genoa surviving a penalty claim for a possible handball by Bani before Napoli seized their leveller with five minutes of normal time remaining.
Zielinski sent a perfect lofted pass to the far post where Matteo Politano nipped behind the Genoa defence to brilliantly volley the equaliser past Martinez.
The persistently dangerous Gudmundsson came close again for Genoa but the hosts were forced to settle for a point.
