Despite falling behind 2-0 to AC Milan on Saturday, substitute Dries Mertens played the role of hero for Napoli as they battled back to secure a 3-2 victory in stunning fashion.
Giacomo Bonaventura and Davide Calabria had seemingly sent the Rossoneri on their way, but a brace from Piotr Zielinski, followed by the Belgian’s strike with 10 minutes remaining, extended the Azzurri’s unbeaten run to eight matches against the Diavolo.
It was anything but easy for Carlo Ancelotti’s men, as just like their opening match against Lazio, they were forced to chase the scoreline as Milan hit the back of the net after just 15 minutes.
A long ball over the top was knocked down by Fabio Borini, allowing Bonaventura to scissor-kick the ball home with the outside of his right foot, leaving debutant David Ospina with no chance.
Jose Callejon fired wide, while Arkadiusz Milik closed out the half by forcing Gianluigi Donnarumma to palm a shot from distance.
It was 2-0 just four minutes into the second half, with another looping ball proving Napoli’s downfall. Suso did well to bring it down, before laying it off for an onrushing Calabria to slide home into the far post.
Milan played with fire by passing the ball from deep despite Napoli’s high press for all of the first half, and it came back to bite them. Biglia fell and lost the ball, and a low cut pass fell to the feet of Zielinski as Napoli cut the deficit in half.
The Polish international should have levelled the match as he had all the time in the world to curl a cut-back cross from the top of the box, but he squandered it by firing wide of the mark.
Zielinski made up for it soon after though when a Napoli corner was palmed out to the midfielder. The poor clearance was half-volleyed home and past Donnarumma to set up a pulsating final 20 minutes.
It came as a surprise to nobody when the comeback was completed, with Mertens playing the role of hero. Unmarked at the back post, the Belgian fired home Allan’s cross to send the home fans into a frenzy, and keep Napoli on full points after two matches.
Napoli’s backline a cause for concern
Ospina made his debut on Saturday after Orestis Karnezis played in the season opener, but you’d be hard pressed to lavish either men with praise thus far.
Granted, the Colombian wasn’t really at fault for Milan’s goals, but it’s fair to say he never really made his presence felt either. Perhaps Ospina, and Karnezis, will look more comfortable once Napoli’s defence settles, which will certainly be Ancelotti’s priority moving forward after another uneven performance.
Gattuso’s masterplan undone by toothless resistance
Everything was in place for Milan to register their first win at the Stadio San Paolo since 2010. Goals by Bonaventura and Calabria had handed the Rossoneri a deserved lead, thanks in large part to an organized and efficient team display.
However it wasn’t to last, and no doubt Gattuso will be left ruing Milan’s inability to see out the match. Despite not playing against Genoa last week, it was the Rossoneri who looked sluggish towards the end of the match. More worrying perhaps is Milan’s mental state, as teams with European ambitions can’t afford to throw away two-goal advantages in big games.
