SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind.
The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining.
To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began.
Photo: AFP
Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got rid of his marker before guide his shot into the bottom corner to give Napoli the lead in the 15th minute.
Genoa came close to scoring an equalizer on the half-hour mark as Andrea Pinamonti’s header from a free-kick hit the top of the crossbar.
Genoa leveled in the 32nd minute when Honest Ahanor’s header hit the bar, with Napoli keeper Alex Meret initially parrying it into the post, only for the rebound to bounce off his body and into the net for an own goal.
The somber mood at Diego Armando Maradona Stadium lifted in the 64th minute when Giacomo Raspadori drilled a screamer from close range, restoring Napoli’s lead and sending the blue-and-white supporters into a frenzy.
However, a Johan Vasquez header six minutes from time silenced the crowd as the realization hit that the title race had been blown wide open again.
McTominay urged fans to stay calm, reminding them that Napoli still hold a narrow lead in the title race.
“We have to stay calm, this is not the time to panic,” McTominay told DAZN. “Genoa are a strong team, they scored two good goals, and we have to look at what we did wrong there.”
Napoli will visit Parma next before finishing the season by hosting Cagliari Calcio, while Inter will next play SS Lazio at home before travelling to Como 1907 for their final match.
“We’ve got to keep the same attitude we’ve had so far, because this is what got us here, so keep going with the same intensity and hard work that we’ve done every single day,” Raspadori added.
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
RSS