Napoli 3-2 Pisa: Serie A champions edge nervy five-goal thriller to stay perfect

A below-par Napoli moved two points clear at the Serie A summit as they overcame Pisa in a cagey 3-2 triumph at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Billy Gilmour’s first Serie A goal was cancelled out by M’Bala Nzola’s 60th-minute penalty, before Leonardo Spinazzola and Lorenzo Lucca sealed the victory late on, though Lorran’s late strike made stoppage time interesting.

Napoli had the ball in the back of the net in the 27th minute after Adrian Semper’s stop from Rasmus Hojlund’s shot fell kindly for Eljif Elmas to nod in from close range.

However, the goal was ruled out for an offside in the build-up by Hojlund as he darted in behind the Pisa defence, but Napoli soon got themselves ahead.

Gilmour collected Spinazzola’s cutback and shaped to shoot, but brilliantly shifted the ball onto his left foot before seeing his strike deflect into the bottom-right corner.

Pisa had caused Napoli several problems in the first half, and got the goal they deserved on the hour through Nzola’s spot-kick after Sam Beukema was penalised for handball.

But Antonio Conte’s side hit back through Spinazzola, who shrugged off the challenge of Marius Marin before sending a low drive from 25 yards out beyond Semper’s grasp.

Substitute Lucca then fired a fierce effort in at the near post four minutes after his introduction, but Lorran reduced the arrears again in the 90th minute after a mistake by Giovanni Di Lorenzo, with Napoli able to navigate six minutes of added time to make it four wins from four.

Data Debrief: Plenty to ponder for Conte

Napoli endured a difficult return to the Champions League after Di Lorenzo’s early red card in their 2-0 defeat to Manchester City, and Conte would not have been pleased by his team’s response here.

Indeed, the Scudetto holders were only able to generate an expected goals (xG) total of 0.99 from their 18 shots, six of which were on target, compared to Pisa’s 2.61 from their 15 attempts, despite the visitors scoring just once coming into this game.

But the Partenopei were able to drag themselves over the line. They extended their unbeaten run to 16 matches (W11 D5), which is the longest stretch across Europe’s top five leagues, while they put together five consecutive Serie A wins under Conte for the third time.