October 05, (THEWILL) — Napoli recovered from a half-time deficit to defeat Genoa 2-1 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday, with Rasmus Hojlund maintaining his goalscoring run. Antonio Conte fielded a heavily rotated side that nearly benefited from an early gift when Alessandro Marcandalli’s misjudged back-pass bounced narrowly wide in the seventh minute.
Despite controlling possession, the hosts trailed at the break after Jeff Ekhator combined with Brooke Norton-Cuffy before beating Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. Injuries to Stanislav Lobotka and Matteo Politano forced Conte to make changes during the interval. Frank Anguissa restored parity just before the hour mark, nodding home following a scramble inside the penalty area after Leonardo Spinazzola’s delivery caused confusion in the Genoa defence.
Napoli pushed for the winner and saw several opportunities thwarted by goalkeeper Nicola Leali, who denied Spinazzola with a sharp stop. Hojlund had an effort disallowed for offside during the build-up before eventually finding the net with 15 minutes remaining.
Kevin de Bruyne delivered a cross that reached Anguissa, whose shot was parried by Leali. Hojlund reacted quickest to slot home the rebound and complete the turnaround for the hosts. The striker’s goal extended his recent run of form in front of goal.
The result lifted Napoli back to the Serie A summit above Roma on goal difference. Genoa remain in 19th position following the defeat at the Maradona Stadium.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
