Report · Serie A

Napoli 3 – 3 Roma

Wide view of the stadium bowl in Naples with blue seats in tiers around the pitch.
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples, then named San Paolo, at half-time of a Napoli home match, 14 September 2019. Photo: Gaetano Capaldo / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Roma came from behind three times to draw 3-3 with Napoli in Serie A, with Leonardo Balerdi heading the final equaliser in the 89th minute to complete a second-half brace.

Napoli led 1-0 at half-time through Frank Anguissa, who scored with a bicycle kick in the 28th minute after a Napoli free kick was headed out by de Roon. Scott McTominay made it 2-0 straight after the break, finishing in the 48th minute from Matteo Politano's assist.

Roma levelled within about five minutes. Matías Soulé scored in the 69th minute with a shot after a one-two with Donyell Malen, and Balerdi, a second-half substitute, made it 2-2 in the 74th minute with a left-footed finish under the crossbar from close range after Santiago Castro chested the ball to him in a goalmouth scramble. McTominay restored Napoli's lead in the 83rd minute with a diagonal shot, assisted by Mathías Olivera, as play went on after Gollini saved from Spinazzola. Balerdi then headed in Wesley's cross from the right in the 89th minute for 3-3.

Napoli said Beukema was fouled in the build-up to the equaliser. VAR checked the incident and the goal stood, and Napoli manager Massimiliano Allegri was sent off from the touchline for protesting.

Roma are 3rd in the Serie A table on 18 points from 8 games, with 5 wins and 3 draws, and remain unbeaten. Napoli are 9th on 11 points from 8 games.

Before kick-off

Unbeaten Roma visit a wounded Napoli with no Svilar in goal

Napoli hold a slight advantage in a tight game of two goals or fewer.

Roma are third on seventeen points from seven, with five wins, two draws and a goal difference of plus thirteen. Napoli are tenth on ten after losing 1-0 at Venezia, and the Italian press is questioning Allegri's position after that defeat and one at Villarreal in the Champions League.

Roma travel without Svilar, Koné and Pellegrini, and Dybala is not ready: the goalkeeper and two of the midfield's starters. Napoli at home with a near-full side against a weakened Roma is the reason the home side edge the result, though only just. Both sides' last five league matches averaged just over two goals, and Roma conceded three in those five.