Hojlund’s secures maximum points for Napoli

Scudetto holder Napoli have returned to the summit of the Serie A with a 2-1 victory over Genoa on Sunday at the Diego Maradona Stadium.

The Partonopei picked up the maximum points against Patrick Vieira’s Genoa, coming from behind in the second half, having gone behind in the first half.

Genoa had gone ahead through Jeff Ekhator before Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Rasmus Hojlund came up with the goals for Antonio Conte’s side in Serie A action.

Conte made a bold selection with the removal of star signing Kevin De Bruyne from the starting line-up at the Maradona. According to Gabriele Oriali, it was a ‘technical choice’ made by the coach, and David Neres was selected in place.

Expectedly, Napoli dominated and enjoyed the majority of the possession in the opening period. But Genoa’s work off the ball made it difficult for Conte’s side to create any clear-cut chances. 

The first shot on target eventually arrived in the 33rd minute, and it came from the visitors, which proved to be costly for the Partenopei. 

Brooke Norton-Cuffy rounded Mathias Olivera in the penalty area and made it to the byline. With plenty of space for him to operate, he picked out Jeff Ekhator in the middle, and the teenager only had to put his foot out to poke home from close range. 

Napoli eventually had their first shot on target around the hour mark, which eventually counted like Genoa did in the first half.

Leonardo Spinazzola aimed a cross at De Bruyne in the middle, and the Belgian tried to connect, but the ball looped upwards, alerting Anguissa, who was behind him, and he stuck his neck out to head home on the follow-up. 

They eventually turned it around with a quarter of an hour left to play. De Bruyne released across from the left to McTominay, who brought it down for Anguissa, whose shot was blocked, but Hojlund was on home to slam in the rebound for his third goal in two matches.

Napoli now returned to the top of the Serie A standings, level on points with Roma, who also recorded a victory against Fiorentina.

Milan could also become a joint leader with those two if they beat Juventus in the Sunday kickoff.

This leaves Genoa without a win in Serie A this season and will head into the international break in 19th place in the standings, despite a largely encouraging performance at the Maradona.