Lukaku sparks late comeback as Napoli beat 10-man Parma
Parma faced an early blow with Emanuele Valeri going off injured in the eighth minute. Even so, Valentin Mihaila got behind Napoli’s defence before firing wide and the visitors were doing enough to deal with the bright Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
They were also denied twice by the woodwork in quick succession, as Mateusz Kowalski headed against the crossbar and Ange-Yoann Bonny struck the post. Undeterred, Bonny won a penalty from Alex Meret moments later and deceived the goalkeeper from the spot to open the scoring.
Napoli looked for a quick response but Zion Suzuki was equal to Pasquale Mazzocchi’s header and Del Prato determinedly rushed out to block Kvaratskhelia’s volley.
The visitors continued to overcome the pressure they were being put under after the cooling break, even if there was an awkward moment where Suzuki had to smash the ball away after it had come off Del Prato.
Adrian Bernabe then came agonisingly close with a strike from range, while Kvaratskhelia continued his attempts to drag Napoli onto level terms but saw his low strike palmed away.
The hosts relentlessly pushed for an equaliser after the break but Parma continued to hold firm, with Suzuki saving more attempts from Kvaratskhelia while Giacomo Raspadori’s powerful shot was blocked.
In desperate need of a goal, Antonio Conte turned to debutant Romelu Lukaku in the 62nd minute before Buongiorno hit the crossbar.
The hosts were then buoyed by Suzuki receiving a second yellow for his challenge on David Neres having previously been booked for time wasting – a scenario made far worse by Del Prato being forced to go in goal with Fabio Pecchia having used all of his substitutions.
There was a fear that the makeshift goalkeeper would have to face a penalty following Pontus Almqvist’s challenge on Giovanni Simeone, but it was deemed not to be a foul following a VAR. Even so, there was disappointment moments later as Lukaku’s strike was too powerful for him to deal with in the second of 11 added minutes.
Del Prato was then beaten again by a bullet header from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, as Napoli earned back-to-back victories and Parma suffered their first defeat of the SA campaign after Almqvist’s strike in the final moments was saved.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (SSC Napoli)
