Rasmus Hojlund's penalty conversion deep into stoppage time secured three points for Napoli in a hard-fought encounter with Genoa at the Stadio Ferraris.
The hosts took an early lead when Ruslan Malinovskyi steered home from the penalty spot but Napoli picked themselves up and flipped the scoreline with a quick-fire one-two midway through the half. Hojlund netted the first when he pounced on the rebound following Scott McTominay's powerful angled drive from outside the box. The Scot then made it 2-1 with a curling finish from even further out.
In the second half Lorenzo Colombo equalised for Genoa and Napoli were reduced to ten men when Juan Jesus was given his marching orders with 15 minutes left to play. However, the Azzurri snatched victory in added time after Antonio Vergara was brought down in the box and our Danish striker made it count from 12 yards
Antonio Conte praised his team's never-say-die attitude after the final whistle:
“This win was earned through courage and heart. Picking ourselves up after two defensive errors that allowed Genoa to score two goals means a lot. We've shown we're a team that's never beaten despite the difficulties and injury problems. Even though we were a man down, we still mustered the determination to go on and win it. I'm proud of my players' attitude and I want to thank them. They deserved to win.”
On McTominay's substitution:
“Scott has a glute problem that he's been carrying since the start of the season and it flares up every now and then. He wanted to continue but I preferred not to risk it because he's a key player for us.”
Rasmus Hojlund was all smiles after his match-winning brace:
“I'm delighted with my goals but above all with the victory. My penalty wasn't perfect – I got a bit lucky – but the main thing is we got the three points.
“I took responsibility for the spot kick and it went well. I'm confident and I thank my team-mates for the support they give me in every game.”
Antonio Vergara commented on the penalty he won:
“For the foul in the box at the end he caught my foot so I think it was right to give a penalty. I'm really happy with the win. I perhaps didn't have an amazing game today but what matters is we've won a hugely important match.”
Leonardo Spinazzola also expressed his joy with the result:
“Winning like this is important for the three points and above all for morale. It was a very hard-fought game with lots of physical duels but we managed to edge it through grit and desire.
“We're showing incredible character in spite of the difficulties and we want to carry on like this because we have the quality and the ambition to climb back up the table.”
Genoa 2-3 Napoli (HT 1-2)
Scorers: Malinovskyi 3 (pen), Hojlund 20, McTominay 22, Colombo 57, Hojlund 90+5 (pen).
GENOA: Bijlow; Marcandalli, Ostigard, Vásquez; Norton-Cuffy, Malinovskyi (Masini 74), Ellertsson, Frendrup, Martín (Messias 74), Vitinha (Cornet 89), Colombo (Ekuban 64).
Coach: De Rossi.
NAPOLI: Meret; Rrahmani, Buongiorno (Beukema 60), Juan Jesus; Gutierrez, Lobotka, McTominay (Giovane 46, Olivera 77), Spinazzola; Vergara, Elmas; Hojlund.
Coach: Conte.
Referee: Massa.
Booked: Meret, Vasquez, Marcandalli, Spinazzola.
Sent off: Juan Jesus 78.
