Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored a fine late goal to give Napoli a 2-1 home win over long-suffering Hellas Verona in Serie A on Sunday after the defending champions trailed in the second half.
Napoli rises to seventh place in the table with 35 points, while Verona falls into the relegation zone, in 18th position with 18 points.
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It was a frenetic start by Napoli, as they went on an all-out attack on the Verona area in the opening minutes, and the visitors’ keeper Lorenzo Montipò made two excellent saves from Kvaratskhelia.
In the 10th minute, a pass from Stanislav Lobotka discovered Kvaratskhelia on the edge of the area and the Georgian foreigner touched the area before releasing the ball, but Montipo deflected it for a corner.
Three minutes later, a clearance from a corner fell to Kvaratskhelia outside the area and his first time shot looked bound for the net until Montipo got down to smother the effort at his near post.
Napoli’s early promise fizzled out and with Victor Osimhen still involved in the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria, they sorely missed his poacher’s instinct up front.
Instead, it was the visitors who regained confidence after the break and took the lead in the 72nd minute when Diego Coppola’s shoulder hit a loose shot introduced into the domain through Tomas Suslov.
“In the first half we were smart on the pitch, then at the moment we gave up and put Napoli in trouble. I’m sorry for the result, but what we want is this performance,” Verona coach Marco Baroni told DAZN.
Montipo continued his heroics with a spectacular double-save from Pasquale Mazzocchi and Jesper Lindstrom, but he was finally beaten a few minutes later by Cyril Ngonge.
Ngonge, who joined Napoli from Verona in January, came off the bench to score against his former club seven minutes after they fell behind, thanks to a pass from Lindstrom.
“It’s amazing to describe the purpose and the emotion,” Ngonge told DAZN. “I came in with a preference to replace this game and we did it all together. “
Just when it looked like Verona were going to take a valuable point away from Napoli, Kvaratskhelia fired in from distance in the 87th minute and this time Montipo was unopposed to the Georgian star.