Napoli came from 2-0 down to avoid one of the shocks of the Serie A season, as they drew 2-2 with relegation-threatened Hellas Verona to go five games unbeaten in all competitions, denying the visitors a third league win all season.
2025/2026 Serie A
2-2
Match Report
Napoli remained unbeaten at home in the league for the whole of 2025, and their pursuit of similar dominance in the new year began with an inventive Giovanni Di Lorenzo pass in behind, which Eljif Elmas latched onto, yet his first-time hit was thwarted at the near post by Lorenzo Montipò. But that run was under threat 16 minutes in, as Verona scored on their first venture into the hosts' box. Cheikh Niasse got to the byline on the right side and played the ball across for Martin Frese, whose delightful flicked finish gave Vanja Milinković-Savić no chance.
Things got worse for Antonio Conte's side midway through the first half, when VAR spotted a potential handball inside the area against Alessandro Buongiorno. Matteo Marchetti concurred upon review, and Gift Orban picked out the bottom corner with the resulting penalty. At the other end, Di Lorenzo's delivery continued to be on point, but Rasmus Højlund could only head his cross over the bar as frustrations grew. Højlund attempted to make amends before HT, and would have grabbed an assist had Scott McTominay's strike not been met by a vital Unai Núñez block.
With nine of their previous 10 league goals coming before HT, the champions needed a change in fortunes, and after Montipò did well to deny a Noa Lang effort following a swift move eight minutes in, that change arrived. The Verona goalkeeper misjudged the resulting corner, and McTominay’s header flew past him and into the net. With their tails up, Napoli continued to send teasing balls into the Mastini box, but a lack of a finishing touch meant they still trailed with 20 minutes to play.
The Partenopei twice thought their wait was over soon afterwards when a Matteo Politano centre caused havoc in the box and Højlund stabbed the ball home, only for VAR to spot another handball, this time against Højlund. McTominay then had the ball in the net once more, but this time the offside flag was up. However, Napoli finally completed the comeback eight minutes from time, when Luca Marianucci's ball to the near post was swept home by Di Lorenzo. That goal ensured Napoli stayed unbeaten at home since December 2024, though they missed the chance to go top of the table. Giovane could have won it for Paolo Zanetti's side in stopapge time, but his chip over Milinković-Savić dropped agonisingly wide, though Verona have at least ended a run of back-to-back 3-0 defeats, while they've moved to within two points of safety.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
8' Match Event for Napoli vs Verona
16' GOAL! Napoli 0-1 Verona (Martin Frese)
27' Penalty Goal! Napoli 0-2 Verona (Gift Orban)
34' Highlight from Napoli vs Verona
54' GOAL! Napoli 1-2 Verona (Scott McTominay)
71' Highlight from Napoli vs Verona
77' Highlight from Napoli vs Verona
82' GOAL! Napoli 2-2 Verona (Giovanni Di Lorenzo)
Line-ups
Napoli XI: Di Lorenzo, Lobotka, Politano, Rrahmani, Vanja Milinković-Savić, Elmas, Buongiorno, McTominay, Lang, Miguel Gutiérrez, Højlund
Subs: Juan, Spinazzola, Nikita Contini, Meret, M.Olivera, Lorenzo Lucca, Luca Marianucci, Emmanuele De Chiara, Vincenzo Prisco
Verona XI: Lorenzo Montipò, Gagliardini, Núñez, Antoine Bernede, Martin Frese, Domagoj Bradarić, Cheikh Niasse, Bella-Kotchap, Amin Sarr, Nicolás Valentini, Gift Orban
Subs: Simone Perilli, Grigoris Kastanos, Musrati, Serdar, Enzo Ebosse, Victor Nelsson, Abdou Harroui, Daniel Mosquera, Daniel Oyegoke, Giacomo Toniolo, Yellu Santiago, Giovane, Tobias Slotsager, Fallou Cham