Sampdoria 1 - 1 Napoli: Napoli leave it late to grab point

Posted Tuesday, December 02, 2014 by PA

Napoli managed to snatch a 1-1 draw with 10 men at Sampdoria to move back up to third in Serie A on Monday night.

Eder gave the Blucerchiati the lead and they looked odds on to win when Kalidou Koulibaly was shown a red card with five minutes to go.

However, Napoli's efforts were rewarded when Duvan Zapata headed in an equaliser in stoppage time to take them back above Genoa on goal difference and keep them a point ahead of Samp.

Both sides struggled to adapt to the conditions with recent rain causing the pitch to cut up badly and preventing the ball from rolling regularly.

Chances were therefore at a premium with neither side able to string together many passes, although Napoli had the better of them with Faouzi Ghoulam and Gonzalo Higuain both heading wide.

Samp's best chance of the first half came in a goalmouth scramble with Roberto Soriano and Stefano Okaka both seeing efforts blocked, the latter's effort going behind for a corner which did not bring any further danger.

The home side took the lead just before the hour mark when Eder received the ball outside the area and saw the slightest of gaps to send a low shot into the bottom corner of Rafael's goal.

Napoli's response was immediate with Higuain testing Sergio Romero for the first time in the 64th minute and Rafael Benitez's men continuing to attack with insistence.

Samp were forced to defend in numbers, but they were assisted in the 84th minute when Eder broke free and brought a foul out of Koulibaly, who was consequently shown a second yellow card.

That did not end Napoli's hopes entirely, though, and Zapata tried to be too fancy in finding Jose Callejon as they continued to attack even with only 10 men.

Their pressure finally paid off in the second minute of stoppage time when Zapata made up for that mistake by heading in from close range after Higuain had missed Ghoulam's cross.