Crotone 1 - 2 Napoli: 10-man Napoli see off struggling Crotone

Posted Sunday, October 23, 2016 by PA

Napoli had to play for an hour with 10 men, but still did enough to beat rock-bottom Crotone 2-1.

Striker Manolo Gabbiadini was sent off after 31 minutes for his angry reaction to a challenge from Gianmarco Ferrari.

Gabbiadini was on the ground when he kicked out at the defender and was shown a straight red card.

Napoli were already a goal to the good by then thanks to Jose's Callejon's close-range finish in the 17th minute from Dries Mertens' deflected cross.

Two minutes after Gabbiadini's rush of blood the visitors doubled their advantage when Nikola Maksimovic stole in inside the six-yard box to tap home a cross from Ivan Strinic.

This was supposed to be a special match for Crotone. It was their first in Serie A to be played at the Stadio Scida, having previously had to play their home fixtures at Pescara's Stadio Adriatico due to delayed rebuilding work.

The hosts, with just one point from their opening eight matches, rallied in the second half, but left it too late to take anything from the match.

Nigerian forward Simy could have pulled one back but fired wide and Diego Falcinelli's header from a corner from Leonardo Capezzi also missed the target.

Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina was twice called into action in the space of a minute, first keeping out Falcinelli's fierce strike and then denying Marcus Rohden.

Aleandro Rosi eventually found the net from a corner with a minute to go, but Crotone could not find an equaliser.