Goran Pandev scored twice for Napoli as it let slip a two-goal lead
before settling for a thrilling 3-3 draw with Serie A leader Juentus on
Tuesday at the Stadio Sao Paolo.
Marek Hamsik, who had earlier missed a penalty, headed Napoli
in front in the 23rd minute and Pandev added a second goal five minutes
from halftime. Alessandro Matri got Juventus back into the game just
after the break but Pandev was on hand to score again in the 68th.
However, Marcelo Estigarribia recorded his first goal in
Italian football shortly afterwards and Simone Pepe leveled matters in
the 80th minute.
Juventus remains unbeaten this season and is now two points
clear of AC Milan, while Napoli moves into sixth, eight points behind
Antonio Conte's team.
"Thre was an important response from the whole group, if their hearts weren't in it, we wouldn't have come back," Conte said.
"Today Napoli and the atmosphere at the San Paolo would have stopped any team. I am proud to be the coach of these lads. "
It was Napoli's fourth game in 11 days and coach Walter Mzzarri
blamed fatigue for his players' capitulation. Juventus, unlike Napoli,
is not involved in the Champions League this season.
"Today the glass is half empty," Mazzarri said. "We were
spectacular in the first half but then in the second we paid for the
fact we've had too many games recently. We should have kept our focus
for the last 20 minutes. We were waning and that showed; when we were
3-1 up I thought we would win, even though we were tired.
Juventus had the better of the opening exchanges and should
have scored in the third minute when Pepe let fly from distance with a
fierce shot that whistled just wide of the left post.
Shortly afterwards, Juventus defender Stephan Lichtsteiner
found an unmarked Mirko Vucinic but the Montenegro forward's strike
across goal was also off target.
The match turned on its head in the 14th minute when Napoli won
a penalty, with Andrea Pirlo bringing down Ezequiel Lavezzi just inside
the area as the Argentine was about to cross.
Hamsik sent a perfect penalty into the bottom right corner, but
the referee ordered a retake because of encroachment and the Slovak
blazed his second attempt over the bar.
Napoli was in front soon after, though, when Christian Maggio nodded down Lavezzi's free kick for Hamsik to head home.
Maggio also had a part in Napoli's second goal. As he and Pirlo
clashed in an attempt to win possession, the ball fell to Pandev, who
did well to evade his marker and fire across goal into the bottom left
corner.
Juventus was back in the game shortly after the interval when
Arturo Vidal sent a defense-splitting pass across for the unmarked Matri
to strike past keeper Morgan De Sanctis.
Matri had the ball in the back of the net minutes later, but the Italy striker was rightly adjudged to be offside.
Napoli could have extended its lead when Lavezzi did
brilliantly to avoid the attentions of three Juventus defenders and
muscle his way into the area but his shot was straight at goalkeeper
Gianluigi Buffon.
Pandev, who had earlier signaled to the bench his need to come
off the pitch, scored his second after controlling Maggio's cross with
his back to goal before turning and firing into bottom right corner.
The on-loan Inter striker was substituted minutes later to a standing ovation.
Juventus reduced the deficit in the 72nd minute when Matri
found Estigarribia at the far post and the Paraguay winger slotted past
De Sanctis.
The Turin side equalized 10 minutes from time when Pepe picked
up the ball on the halfway line and raced towards goal. He attempted a
pass, but the ball rebounded back to him off Napoli defender Frederic
Fernando, and Pepe coolly fired home.
"I'm disappointed because I thought we had won it 3-1 and, to
make it worse, one of our defenders helped in their third goal,"
Mazzarri said. "We had no luck."
