Napoli came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with lowly Verona on Wednesday, a result which gave Inter Milan the chance to pull away from the champions in the race for the Serie A title.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo swept home a brilliant leveller with eight minutes remaining to grab a point in Naples after Scott McTominay’s header early in the second half started the fightback.
Napoli are a single point behind league leaders Inter, who are at Parma later on Wednesday, ahead of the pair’s Scudetto showdown at the San Siro this weekend.
“The positive thing is that we came back from going two goals behind but it’s not the right result… we wanted to win our first match of 2026 in front of our fans,” said Di Lorenzo to DAZN.
Antonio Conte’s team risk falling four back from Inter who are on a run of five straight league wins, after going in at half-time two goals down to a neat backheel from Martin Frese and Gift Orban’s penalty.
Sandwiched between Inter and third-placed Napoli are AC Milan who are also one point off the pace and host Genoa on Thursday night.
“Look we’re all bunched up at the top so it’s going to go down to the last day like last season,” added Di Lorenzo.
“Every point is important, maybe the fightback today could be important for that reason, because it’s always better to get something from a game rather than lose.”
A win for Inter at the Stadio Ennio Tardini would pile pressure on Napoli, especially given the continued injury crisis affecting Conte’s squad.
Andre-Frank Anguissa and Romelu Lukaku were in the stands while star summer signing Kevin De Bruyne is still absent, with niggling injuries causing problems almost every match.
Noa Lang had to come in for David Neres who has suffered a sprained ankle, while defender Pasquale Mazzocchi was suspended after being sent off against Lazio at the weekend.
McTominay’s third league goal of the season sparked an onslaught on the Verona goal but Rasmus Hojlund was denied a 72nd-minute equaliser when he was penalised for handball following a VAR check.
After Amir Rrahmani also had a goal chalked off for offside skipper Di Lorenzo salvaged something from the match and maintained Napoli’s unbeaten home record this season.
Atalanta continued their revival under Raffaele Palladino with a 2-0 win at Bologna, with Nikola Krstovic bagging both goals after starting in place of injured Gianluca Scamacca.
Krstovic netted smart low finishes in each half to push Atalanta above Bologna into seventh, albeit eight points behind Juventus who sit fourth in the last Champions League spot.
While Atalanta look like a new team, Bologna sit eighth and are slipping down the table after failing to win since the end of November, although they have a game in hand due to their participation in the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
