Napoli drew 1-1 with Genoa at the Stadio San Paolo on Monday night in Serie A action.
Gonzalo Higuain gave the home side an early lead but Emanuele Calaio hit a spectacular free kick late in the match to give the Rossoblu a point.
Napoli were sharp from the onset despite coming off a midweek fixture in Wales and had little difficulty creating chances in what started as a wide open affair.
Dries Mertens had the first of these chances when he tested Mattia Perin early on with a curling shot from outside the box, but the young keeper did well to turn the ball over the crossbar.
The Partenopei continued to pile on the pressure and eventually opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Marek Hamsik threaded a through ball to Higuain who deftly chipped over an onrushing Perin.
The visitors almost equalized three minutes later when Moussa Konate’s shot was cleared off the goal line by Federico Fernandez.
Higuain had two more opportunities to double his tally but fired wide on both occasions, while Mertens seemed determined to grab a goal but was unable to beat Perin.
Konate again came close to grabbing a goal for Genoa in the 35th minute but his point blank header was saved by Pepe Reina.
The pace of the game dropped considerably in the second half as referee Luca Banti was forced to frequently stop play due to sloppy fouls from both sides.
Giuseppe Sculli had Genoa’s best chance until that point in the 67th minute after a great first touch got him in on goal but his finish was disappointing and he was unable to challenge Reina as the ball skidded past the far post.
The Grifone looked unlikely to take anything away from the match until Adrian Centurion was fouled by Dries Mertens with an errant foul.
Former Napoli man Calaio stepped up to take the free kick from 35 yards out and hit a beautiful curling shot over the wall that hit the inside of the post to grab the point for Genoa.
Napoli pushed everyone to try to regain the lead but were unable to do so, meaning the home side had to settle for a disappointing 1-1 draw at home.
