Late drama against Chievo keeps Napoli in Serie A title race

One of my favourite pieces of graffiti in Italy appeals to the romantic in me. You see it daubed on walls up and down the country. “I love you like a goal in the 90th minute.” 

Late goals, specifically late comebacks and winners, send you head over heels. They quicken the heart rate and generate the most almighty rush. All of a sudden there’s a spring in your step. A smile on your face. They convince you anything is possible and that maybe it’s meant to be after all. 

There are many ways to win a football match. But they don’t come much better than snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in stoppage time. It makes you feel alive and vividly so. 

Napoli looked dead and buried in the 89th minute on Sunday afternoon. Behind to Chievo at the San Paolo, the title race seemed over. Emanuele Giaccherini, a player Napoli let go in January, had seized upon a loose pass from Kalidou Koulibaly and set up Mariusz Stepinski to put the away side in front. 

If the Partenopei had gone on to lose the game, we would have perhaps looked back on that moment as symbolic. Not solely on the basis of it shattering Neapolitan dreams. More because of what Giaccherini threatened to stand for: Maurizio Sarri’s stubbornness. His unwillingness to trust Napoli’s players in reserve, the burnout it has caused and how it is compromising their title challenge. 

With a minute left on the clock plus stoppages, Napoli knew it was make or break. Juventus were seven points clear and must have thought that just as Sarri has worn them out, they have also worn them down. 

Lorenzo Insigne temporarily lost his head and you could empathise. Dries Mertens had missed a penalty at the start of the second half. Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino was having one of those afternoons when you could throw sand at him and he would have caught every grain. Il Magnifico could sense the Scudetto slipping away. 

As a Neapolitan - a boyhood fan of this club - his dream felt dangerously close to being crushed. The proximity to it got to him. He went through the same emotions on the pitch as the supporters in the stands. The pits of despair. A section of the San Paolo turned on the team as the final whistle drew closer. And rather than focus on the game, Insigne allowed himself to be distracted by it and started giving it back. 

There were shades of Udine in 2016 when Gonzalo Higuain’s red card signalled the end of Napoli’s title challenge. It did not bode well. In terms of knowing your enemy, Napoli’s best player - the team’s creator-in-chief - seemed confused; was it Chievo or the fans? They were blowing it.

Insigne’s turmoil makes what happened next all the more remarkable. The 26-year-old somehow managed to get a hold of himself, put everything to one side and had a moment of clarity. He picked out Arkadiusz Milik with a pass that was both extraordinary for its vision and accuracy. The Pole headed it in to equalise and Insigne shushed the crowd. But the San Paolo only became louder and the jeers that had disgruntled their No.99 turned to cheers. 

Gigi Buffon likes to say he has never seen a stadium score a goal. Sarri begs to differ. “The San Paolo was a cauldron,” he said, “Great merit should go to our fans. You could feel the win in the air.” There was an inevitability about it and when Napoli won a corner in the 93rd minute you just knew someone was about to become a hero. 

What a time to score your first goal in Serie A, Amadou Diawara. The 20-year-old has barely played in the league this season. It was only his fourth start. Why he hasn’t received more game-time is a mystery. Sarri claims a youngster’s second year in top flight football is like a band’s second album. There’s more expectation and it’s hard to live up to. 

Win cash prizes for free with our competition!

User	Total tips	Pending tips	Profit	1	Yield	Total stakes (min. 500000 )	Expected prize
4Kingster	34	0	49279	2	+7.57%	650947
Ramon91	35	0	47721	3	+8.99%	530895
alex_cromby	13	0	40784	4	+7.71%	528800

Don't miss out - join our Republik of Mancunia Private Competition today

But the moral of Sunday’s game is this: put more faith in your back-up players. Napoli’s two goals came from their two freshest players. Diawara’s winner will go down as the most decisive goal. It reduced a six-point gap to four. But Milik’s first strike since August and the flick on for Napoli’s second feel every bit as significant going forward. 

The injury-blighted former Ajax striker gives them something different. Anyone in Napoli’s team could have scored Diawara’s goal. No one apart from Milik though could have finished the chance Insigne fashioned for his equaliser. “It makes us understand how disastrous his injury was,” Sarri said. “Milik’s presence in these games helps us. Until a month ago, we couldn’t change our approach.” 

After hitting the bar with a bicycle kick in the 1-1 draw with Sassuolo a week ago, it’s evident Milik is in-form just when Napoli need him to be. The attack is running on vapour. Mertens has scored only seven goals in his last 20 appearances. Callejon has found the net only three times over the same period and Insigne has mustered two in his last 13 games. Taken as a whole Napoli’s three tenors have scored a little more than half as many goals as last season (the number is down from 60 to 32). Their form remains a concern. 

The trio figure in the top 30 most used players in Serie A this season along with Koulibaly and Elseid Hysaj. No one from Juve is on that list. The nearest is Gonzalo Higuain and he ranks No 45. Giorgio Chiellini is No.83. 

How much nervous energy Napoli burned on Sunday remains to be seen. Although it was fraught and desperate at times, you have to credit their resilience. This was the eighth time they've come back from behind to win this season. The Partenopei have recovered a league-high 25 points from losing positions. 

Rather than drain Napoli, it’s hoped the manner of the Chievo win will deliver the same sort of psychological boost Juventus experienced after Paulo Dybala’s 94th minute winner against Lazio a few weeks ago. “I hope it’s like a full tank of petrol for us,” Sarri said. Napoli's engine has spluttered under strain of late. But maybe, just maybe, this is exactly what it needed to make it purr again.