The Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia was the stage for a thrilling battle between Sassuolo and Napoli on Wednesday night that caught fire in the last 30 minutes. Up to that point, the Partenopei were comfortably cruising on two-goal cushion, happy to preserve their three-point lead over Milan in the Serie A table.
But then, the unexpected happened as the Neroverdi canceled the deficit with goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Gian Marco Ferrari and even came close to take the lead – if it wasn’t for the VAR disallowing Gregoire Defrel’s winner during stoppage time.
It thus ended with Napoli finding themselves just one point ahead of the Rossoneri and two ahead of their cross-town rivals Inter in the table and asking themselves how could they risk throwing away a game that seemed fully in their hands.
After a vibrant first half in which both sides failed to find the back of the net, Napoli opened the scoring with Fabian Ruiz. The Spanish midfielder finalized an offensive combination that started with the Partenopei pressuring Sassuolo in their defensive third and forcing them into a mistake that was capitalized by Mertens.
The Napoli all-time top-scorer served Piotr Zielinski, who in turn put Ruiz in the condition to beat Andrea Consigli and put the Azzurri ahead.
Eight minutes later, Mertens made it to the scoresheet himself, exchanging the ball with Zielinksi again but this time receiving it back from the Pole to score his 105th goal with Napoli.
It seemed over, but Gianluca Scamacca reopened the game on 71 minutes, firing the ball past David Ospina with a deadly right-foot shot after receiving it from Georgios Kyriakopoulos.
Napoli lost both Fabian Ruiz and Kalidou Koulibaly due to injuries and saw their confidence falter as Sassuolo launched a full-scale attack. On 89 minutes, Domenico Berardi whipped a free kick in the box, where defender Gian Marco Ferrari was left all alone to head it home and make it 2-2.
Sassuolo went close to complete a sensational comeback but Gregoire Defrel’s late winner was disallowed for a Berardi foul on Amir Rrahmani in the build-up. Napoli could breathe a sigh of relief while Alessio Dionisi’s Neroverdi, after beating Juventus and Milan, confirmed to be an authentic nemesis for top clubs.
MATCH SCORECARD
December 1, 2021 – Serie A 2021-2022 Round 15
SASSUOLO – NAPOLI 2-2
SCORERS: 52′ Fabian Ruiz (N), 60′ Mertens (N), 72′ Scamacca (S), 89′ Ferrari (S)
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SASSUOLO (4-3-3): Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio (62′ Kyriakoupoulos); Frattesi (77′ Harroui), Lopez, Traore (61′ Henrique); Berardi, Scamacca, Raspadori (88′ Defrel) (Satalino, Pegolo, Magnanelli, Ayhan, Peluso, Muldur) Coach: Dionisi |
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NAPOLI (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Koulibaly (80′ Juan Jesus), Mario Rui; Lobotka, Fabian Ruiz (66′ Politano); Lozano (74′ Demme), Zielinski, Insigne (46′ Elmas); Mertens (66′ st Petagna) (Meret, Marfella, Ghoulam, Malcuit, Ounas) Coach: Spalletti |
REFEREE: Mr. Pezzuto from Lecce
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Rogerio, Berardi, Henrique (S), Politano, Demme (N); Red Card: Spalletti (N); Added Time: 1st Half: 1′, 2nd Half: 5′