Napoli couldn’t break the Lecce wall on Wednesday night as they forced to their second draw in a row in the Serie A mid-week round. The Partenopei took the lead with Elif Elmas after Alex Meret had denied Lorenzo Colombo from the penalty spot.
However, the Milan youth academy product redeemed himself with a phenomenal strike from outside of the box to set the score at 1-1 before the half time break. The score didn’t change in the second period as the Salentini collected their third tie out of four seasonal games so far.
Napoli, on the other hand, lost the first place in the league table and are now trailing Roma by two points while they wait for Torino and Atalanta to face each other tomorrow.
The Partenopei are set to face Lazio and the Liverpool in their Champions League debut in the coming days. Luciano Spalletti thus thought to preserve some of his men and made six changes versus his recent goalless stalemate in Florence. Leo Ostigard made his debut as center back while Tanguy Ndombele positioned himself in the middle of the park. Napoli’s offensive pack featured Elif Elmas, Giacomo Raspadori, and Matteo Politano behind lone striker Victor Osimhen.
Lecce’s Marco Baroni replied with a courageous 4-3-3 setup featuring many young players, including Colombo who made his debut in Giallorosso as a starter.
The Milan home-grown talent got a chance to bring his side ahead as he stepped to the spot to convert a penalty allowed for a Ndombele foul on Federico Di Francesco. Colombo made no mistake, but the referee ordered the penalty to be retaken as he had shot before his whistle. The second time, Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret sprung to to the left and defused the challenge.
The home side drew first blood a few minutes later as Osimhen serviced Politano and Elmas converted the Italian’s shot into Napoli’s opener with a close-range tap in. However, the Partenopei‘s illusion didn’t last long as Colombo was quick to make up for his penalty mistake with a stunning left-foot screamer from 25 meters.
Spalletti made some changes right after the restart as he replaced Raspadori and Ndombele with Stanislav Lobotka and Piotr Zielinksi, switching back to a 4-3-3 formation. There were chances for Politano, Elmas, and Di Lorenzo but, overall, Lecce managed to defend themselves with composure. Not even the late additions of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Giovanni Simeone changed the situation. At full time, the Salentini could be happy with coming home with a golden point for their battle to avoid relegation.
Napoli will now travel to Rome to play Lazio on Saturday while Lecce will receive Torino at the Via del Mare Stadium on Monday night.
MATCH SCORECARD
August 31, 2022 – Serie A 2022-2023 Round 4
NAPOLI – LECCE 1-1
SCORERS: 27′ Elmas (N), 31′ Colombo (L)
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NAPOLI (4-2-3-1): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Ostigard, Minjae, Olivera; Anguissa (85′ Simeone), Ndombele (46′ Lobotka); Politano (71′ Lozano), Raspadori (46′ Zielinski), Elmas (56′ Kvaratskhelia); Osimhen (Marfella, Sirigu, Juan Jesus, Mario Rui, Rrahmani, Zanoli, Gaetano, Zerbin) Coach: Spalletti |
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LECCE (4-3-3): Falcone; Gendrey, Baschirotto, Tuia, Pezzella; Helgason (46′ Gonzalez), Hjlumand, Askildsen (61′ Strefezza); Banda (71′ Listovski), Colombo (69′ Ceesay), Di Francesco (61′ Blin) (Bleve, Samooja, Pongracic, Bistrovic, Frabotta, Gallo, Umtiti, Rodriguez) Coach: Baroni |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Politano (N), Hjulmand, Colombo, Ceesay, Strefezza (L); Extra Time: 1st Half 3′, 2nd Half 7′
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