It was a Napoli siege for almost 90 minutes, yet Dries Mertens only snatched a late equaliser after Stephan El Shaarawy's opener for Roma.
2018/2019 Serie A
1-1
Match Events
14' GOAL! Napoli 0-1 Roma (Shaarawy)
Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.
Assisted by Cengiz Ünder with a cross.
41' De Rossi goes off injured
On his 450 appearances in Serie A, Daniele De Rossi suffers an injury and has to be replaced by Bryan Cristante before the first half ends.
73' DISALLOWED GOAL! Mertens is offside before scoring
81' OFFSIDE! Mertens scores but goal is disallowed
90' GOAL! Napoli 1-1 Roma (Mertens)
Goal! Napoli 1, Roma 1. Dries Mertens (Napoli) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by José Callejón.
Match Report
The Derby del Sole has always been a passionate affair and a bitter rivalry. Carlo Ancelotti faced Roma as an opponent for the first time since 2009 and opted for Arkadiusz Milik alongside Lorenzo Insigne just days after a 2-2 Champions League draw at PSG. Alessandro Florenzi, Javier Pastore and Diego Perotti were carrying knocks, so Davide Santon played at right-back. Daniele De Rossi made his 450th Serie A appearance, while Marek Hamsik matched Giuseppe Bruscolotti’s all-time club record of 511 games in a Napoli jersey.
The kick-off was delayed by several minutes due to technical problems with the VAR booth.
Fabian Ruiz went on a remarkable mazy run to dribble past three players in the box and laid it off to Lorenzo Insigne, whose shot was deflected over by a desperate Kostas Manolas sliding block.
Edin Dzeko’s screamer from distance swerved at the last moment to move away from the top corner, but moments later Roma took the lead.
Cengiz Under pulled back from the by-line and Dzeko couldn’t control it, but it kept going to Stephan El Shaarawy for a scuffed finish in off the inside of the near post from six yards. Kalidou Koulibaly tried to clear, but only after it had already crossed the line.
Arkadiusz Milik’s scorcher stung Robin Olsen’s gloves and Insigne was offside when he tried to pounce on the rebound. Napoli started pouring forward in waves, as Milik felt he was pushed, Hamsik’s angled drive was beaten away by Olsen and then Milik’s glancing header skimmed the far post.
Manolas made a decisive interception to stop Milik tapping in a wayward Callejon effort from five yards, then again to prevent Insigne going clear.
For all their possession and chances, Napoli almost went 2-0 down on 35 minutes. Under’s assist sent Dzeko clear, Ospina did just enough to send him wide and the Bosnian still managed to steer it on target from a tight angle, but Raul Albiol performed a goal-line clearance.
Insigne’s strike from distance whistled wide, but Roma lost Daniele De Rossi to injury before half-time. Milik was then a fraction of a second too late to meet Callejon’s assist from six yards.
Within seconds of the restart, Olsen had to palm a Callejon pull-back from the by-line away from Milik. The Pole’s diving header was charged down by Juan Jesus in a siege on the Roma goal.
Callejon’s pull-back from the by-line on the hour mark was turned on to the upright by Olsen’s leg, then Insigne blasted over a Fabian Ruiz assist from 12 yards.
When Napoli did get the ball in the net, Callejon had wandered offside in the build-up. Substitute Dries Mertens had the same problem on 82 minutes, caught just offside as he turned and drilled home.
It was a non-stop Napoli push in the second half, but still Roma held on to their lead, Olsen punching a cross away from Callejon that Insigne couldn’t control.
The siege eventually paid off at the 90th minute, although Napoli almost got that one wrong too. Insigne managed to keep a difficult ball in at the by-line and pull it back for Callejon, whose horrible mis-kick turned into an accidental assist for Mertens to tap in. The Belgian was quicker to react than the visibly not 100 per cent fit Aleksandar Kolarov.
Line-ups
Napoli XI: Albiol, Hamsik, D. Ospina, Callejón, Allan, Insigne, Mário Rui, K. Koulibaly, Hysaj, A. Milik, F.Ruiz
Subs: Orestis Karnezis, D. Mertens, Maksimovic, Malcuit, Ghoulam, P. Zieliński, A.Diawara, A. Daniele
Roma XI: De Rossi, A. Kolarov, Dzeko, S. N'Zonzi, Santon, Shaarawy, Manolas, R. Olsen, Juan, L.Pellegrini, Ünder
Subs: Antonio Mirante, F. Fazio, Iván Marcano, Florenzi, B. Cristante, Schick, Ante Coric, L.Pellegrini, N. Zaniolo, Daniel Fuzato