Napoli were held to a 2-2 draw at Lazio on Saturday after Boulaye Dia scored late on as the Italian Serie A leaders thought they were set to move four points clear of Inter Milan.
Senegal attacker Dia rolled home a smart low finish in the 87th minute in Rome to deny Napoli victory and give Inter a chance to move top of the pile with a win at Juventus on Sunday.
Champions Inter are two points behind Napoli, who have drawn three matches in a row and have failed to beat Lazio in three matches this season, ahead of that clash between fierce rivals in Turin.
“Lazio are our bogey team… we should be proud of what we’re doing and make sure that we always come off the field with our jerseys soaked in sweat,” said Napoli coach Antonio Conte.
Conte had to deal with the absence of three left-sided players with David Neres, Leonardo Spinazzola and Mathias Olivera all injured, and switched Napoli to a three-man defence with Pasquale Mazzocchi coming in as a makeshift wing-back.
And his injury problems got worse when Alessandro Buongiorno, who played for the first time in 2025 after recovering from a back injury, had to be replaced by Matteo Politano near the hour mark and Mazzocchi asked to substituted with five minutes remaining.
“When Mazzocchi asked to be taken off it caused us a big problem because I had to put (central defender) Rafa Marin at full-back,” added Conte.
“But I can’t ask any more from these boys because what they are doing is extraordinary.”
– Lazio battle –
Napoli looked to be collecting a big three points when Adam Marusic scored a bizarre own goal in the 64th minute, the defender sticking out his left foot to block Giacomo Raspadori’s deflected drive only to somehow chip it past goalkeeper Ivan Provedel and into his own
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