With Luciano Spalletti in the stands, Antonio Pesce scored his first of the season as Napoli Primavera salvaged a late draw against Empoli.
Lineup
Nicolò Frustalupi made two changes to the squad he fielded against Fiorentina. Luigi D’Avino started over Daniel Hysaj in the back three and, with Francesco Gioielli suspended due to yellow card accumulation, Landry Boni played in the centre of the midfield alongside Jorge Alastuey.
(3-4-2-1): Boffelli, Obaretin, D’Avino, Barba; Acampa, Boni, Alastuey, Marchisano; Sahli, Spavone; Rossi
Match
Neither side created many goal-scoring opportunities in the first half. Napoli had the first real chance after a give and go between Matteo Marchisano and Landry Boni midway through the half. Marchisano’s low shot was well-stopped by Empoli goalkeeper Lovro Stubljar. The rebound fell to Jorge Alastuey at the penalty spot but the Spaniard skied his effort over the bar.
Empoli didn’t get their first quality chance until five minutes before the break, when Herculano Nabian played a Sombrero over Boni at the edge of the Napoli area. Lorenzo Ignachitti burst through into the area and forced a fantastic save from Valerio Boffelli. The save was even more impressive consider the shot took a slight deflection off of Benedetto Barba en route towards the bottom corner.
Napoli responded with a counter-attack a minute later. Boni played a long ball over the top to Rossi. Rossi got to the ball first before making a clever cut in toward the centre of the park and squaring the ball to Sahli on the left side of the midfield. The Frenchman dribbled towards the edge of the area before going for goal, but the shot was straight at Stubljar, who made the easy save.
The second half was similar to the first in that neither side created many opportunities to score. However, the half featured two goals, beginning with Empoli scoring the opener in the 51st minute. Ignachitti played the ball down the line for Shalom Ekong on the left wing. Ekong dribbled past Barba and drove toward the by line before cutting the ball in front of the goal. Boffelli got a touch on it, but not enough to prevent Nabian from tapping the ball into the back of the empty goal.
Empoli nearly doubled their lead on a couple of occasions. A few minutes after Nabian’s goal, Samuele Angori’s direct free kick narrowly missed the top corner at the first post. Then, in the 75th minute, Angori teed up substitute Alessandro Renzi at the penalty spot. The central midfielder had a free shot at goal but skied it over the bar.
Those misses proved to be costly, as Napoli equalized in the 80th minute. Alessandro Spavone was first to Alastuey’s cross into the header, guiding a header into the danger area. Antonio Pesce, who replaced Marchisano five minutes prior, was left unmarked and volleyed in his first of the season.
Neither side created any chances during the balance of the match, which ended 1-1. With the draw, Napoli pulled level with Atalanta and Milan on 17 points, after their losses to Lecce and Juventus respectively. The Azzurrini remain one point behind Inter after their draw to Cesena. Sampdoria were the big winners at the bottom of the table, moving up four positions after their 0-1 upset victory over Fiorentina.
