Chievo drew 1-1 with Napoli in a thriller at the Stadio San Paolo on Saturday night in Serie A.
Gennaro Sardo’s first goal of the season gave the Flying Donkeys the lead in the first half and their game plan was executed almost to perfection until the closing minutes. Poor finishing by the hosts and a compact Chievo squad nearly pulled off the shock victory until Napoli’s Raul Albiol also opened his account with his first Serie A goal in the closing minutes.
Chievo started off on the front foot applying pressure to the Napoli back line but were unable to get a shot on target in the first few minutes. But the Parteopei then settled in and started dominating possession, but again without putting Chievo keeper Christian Puggioni under pressure.
The first real threat on either goal came on a cross from right back Christian Maggio who found Dries Mertens after the Belgian made an excellent run and found a bit of space in between four Chievo defenders. However, Mertens’ header went hopelessly over the bar.
Chievo broke the deadlock in the 18th minute when Sardo and Cyril Thereau played a quick 1-2 pass around Gokhan Inler at the edge of Napoli’s 18-yard box and Sardo drilled a right-footed shot in the upper corner past a diving Rafael.
In the 25th minute Napoli broke on a quick counter when Mertens recovered a loose ball and a Jose Callejon pass across the face of goal found a wide open Gonzalo Higuain who inexplicably missed in front of a wide open goal from less than 2 yards away.
Chievo gained confidence from the goal and were more precise and secure in their passing throughout the first half.
Just after the half hour, Napoli worked the ball around in tight spaces at the top of the Chievo box with Callejon and Higuian who then freed Mertens and the Belgian hit a beautiful curling shot which clanged off Puggioni’s post.
Napoli were whistled off the field at the end of the half by a frustrated San Paolo crowd who saw their team dominate possession but waste the few opportunities created and looked more like the team fighting relegation then their Veronese visitors.
Marek Hamsik, who made his first start since coming back from injury, immediately put Chievo under pressure at the beginning of the second half by rifling a shot off a defender. The subsequent corner led to a great chance for Albiol who found himself alone with the keeper but his shot was launched into the Vesuvian sky.
New Napoli signing Jorginho made his debut by substituting fellow midfielder Blerim Dzemaili in the 55th minute.
Napoli continued their domination in possession but, once again, any real threats on goal or creativity was lacking and Chievo seemed content to soak up the pressure, remain patient and limit any spacing for Napoli’s attackers.
Mertens, who has become Napoli’s free kick specialist, hit his second post of the night in after an hour, again with a free kick rocket from 22-yards.
The young Belgian was at the heart of any Napoli attack on the day and as the game reached it’s closing stages Mertens found substitute Lorenzo Insigne with a 25-yard arial cross-field pass. Insigne chested the ball down dribbled in alone on Puggioni but his shot rattled off the crossbar.
Napoli’s pressure finally bore fruit late in the match when in the 88th minute after a Napoli corner Raul Albiol chested down a pass and was able to get a shot off which Puggioni was unable to handle cleanly and it went off his gloves into the back of the net.
