Leaders Napoli had to settle for a point as they were held to a 1-1 draw by nine-man Hellas Verona at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Serie A on Sunday.
Verona raced into an early lead as Antonin Barak spun Mario Rui and dribbled into the box for Giovanni Simeone to apply a simple finish from close range. Yet, Napoli were soon level when Giovanni Di Lorenzo drilled in from a tight angle after meeting Fabian Ruiz’s low pass from a freekick, whilst Victor Osimhen rattled the woodwork on the stroke of halftime.
Lorenzo Insigne came close from a long-range freekick early in the second half, whilst at the other end Barak wasted a fine chance when space opened up for him in the box.
Napoli were unable to break through despite a flurry of late red cards, with substitute Daniel Bessa shown a second yellow for a foul on Elif Elmas, and Dries Mertens fired the resulting freekick against the post. The visitors were reduced to nine men in stoppage time when Nikola Kalinic also received a second yellow for an elbow, but held out for the draw.
