Bilel Sahli scored his second and third goal of the season, but Napoli deservedly suffered their third defeat in four matches, picking up only one point along the way.
Lineup
With Nicolò Frustalupi suspended, his assistant Giorgio Di Vicino manned the bench for this match. Frustalupi made four changes to the squad he fielded in the defeat to Inter last round.
Daniel Hysaj started in the back three over Benedetto Barba, who relinquished the captain’s armband to Alessandro Spavone. Frustalupi also changed both of his wingbacks, starting Enrico Giannini over Davide Acampa on the left and Lamine Gningue over Matteo Marchisano on the right. Finally, Leonardo Rossi started at striker after Antonio Pesce got the not against Inter.
Lineup: (3-4-2-1) Boffelli; Hysaj, D’Avino, Obaretin; Giannini, Gioielli, Alastuey, Lamine; Sahli, Spavone; Rossi
First Half
Napoli got off to an excellent start, opening the scoring only seven minutes into the match. Lamine Gningue played a give-and-go with Jorge Alastuey at midfield before bursting down the right wing. Lamine squared the ball to Leonardo Rossi at the edge of the area. Rossi’s first touch was poor, but that caused Pol Muñoz to overrun the ball. Rossi played the extra pass to Bilel Sahli, who made the late run to join the attack. Sahli rolled the ball past Alexandru Borbei to score his second of the season, giving Napoli a 1-0 lead.
Lecce responded well, creating their first quality chance within minutes of the restart. Medon Berisha laid the ball off to Muñoz at the edge of the area. Muñoz made a lovely turn before going for goal. The shot was blocked but fell kindly to Rares Burnete in front of the goal. The forward had only Boffelli to beat but somehow put his header over the bar.
Sahli nearly doubled Napoli’s lead in the 17th minute, after Daniel Samek made an errant pass into the middle of the park. Samek tried to recover but Sahli broke through his attempted tackle. The forward continued his run, dribbling past Rasvan Pascalau, before going for goal. However, the shot caught too much of the goal and bounced into the waiting arms of Borbei.
Lecce immediately responded to the miss, equalizing only a minute later. Berisha played a long ball over the top to Muñoz on the right side of the area. He rolled the ball into a dangerous area in front of the goal. Lamine and Brunete attacked the ball at the same time. It wasn’t clear who got the first touch, but the ball rattled off of Boffelli and finished in the back of the goal. Brunete was credited with the goal, which made the score 1-1.
Neither side created any more quality opportunities to score until the final five minutes of the half. In the 41st minute, D’Avino intercepted an errant pass by Patrick Dorgu and immediately countered. The defender dribbled past Catalin Vulturar and Samek before going for goal. His shot was blocked, but the rebound fell to Rossi with his back to the goal. The striker turned and fired but hit the outside of the side netting at the near post.
It seemed as though the first half would finish all level at one, but Lecce took the lead with the final kick of the half. Dorgu played a throw in to Burnete on the left wing, and he touched the ball down the line to Henri Salomaa. The winger carried the ball into the area, inviting the challenge from Boffelli, before cutting the ball in front of the goal. Francesco Gioielli got to the ball before Berisha but bumbled it into the back of his own goal, giving the visitors a 1-2 lead at the break.
Second Half
Though Napoli needed to score, Lecce were by far the stronger side in the second half. In the 58th minute, Brunete made a quick turn in the area before striking a powerful shot on target. The ball was destined for the top corner but Boffelli made an excellent reaction save to keep the Azzurrini in the match.
Boffelli made a number of important saves in the half, and got some help from the frame of the goal. In the 65th minute, D’Avino cleared the Lecce cross, but only so far as Jeppe Corfitzen at the edge of the area. He used a clever stepover to get past Hysaj before shooting towards the far post. The ball crashed off the upright, rolled back across the face of the goal and stayed out.
Less than a minute later, Boffelli made another important save. Muñoz squared the ball to Vulturar at the edge of the area. He played the extra pass to substitute Ed McJannet, who fired a low shot on target with his left. Boffelli’s view was obstructed by Hysaj, but the keeper got down quickly to make the save.
Lecce came close again five minutes later, this time on the counter-attack. Brunete did really well to control the long ball with his chest before playing the ball into the path of Salomaa. He held the ball up before thumping a shot on target, but once again the Napoli goalkeeper came up big. Not only did Boffelli make the save, but he was quick to pounce on the loose ball as well.
Boffelli’s efforts did not go to waste, as Napoli equalized in the 77th minute, against the run of play. The Azzurrini played a quick corner kick while the Lecce players were protesting the decision. Alastuey played an inswinging cross with this instep of his left boot from the right wing. Sahli was first to the ball, flicking his header from the penalty spot towards the top corner. An outstretched Borbei got a hand on the ball but could only push it off the upright and into the back of the goal.
Furious with the decision of the officiating crew, Lecce were determined to exact revenge, and they did that only six minutes after the equalizer. Vulturar’s out-swinging corner kick found Burnete at the first post. His header crashed off the bar, but Berisha was waiting on the doorstep to head in his second of the match (after being credited for Lecce’s second).
Napoli were deflated by the goal, creating their final chance in the 6th minute of stoppage time. After a quick exchange between Alastuey and substitute Benedetto Barba, Pasquale Marranzino made a lovely turn in the area before crossing the ball with his left. Gioielli rose up to win the header but the ball bounced narrowly wide of the far post.
Match official Luigi Catanoso blew the triple-whistle seconds later, as Napoli suffered their third defeat in four matches. With the 3-2 loss, the Azzurrini fell further behind Inter, who drew Bologna 1-1, and Sampdoria, who thrashed Hellas Verona 1-5. Napoli could yet fall further behind Atalanta and Milan as well, as both play on Sunday.
