Atalanta Vs. Napoli, 2011 Serie A: Fulltime, Edinson Cavani InjuryTime Goal Rescues A Draw For Napoli

It was almost as though the script was already written before Atalanta - Napoli even kicked off. On one hand you’ve got Germán Denis, former Napoli player who is now leading the Serie A goalscoring charts. On the other is Edinson Cavani, who looked to have found himself back in form with his winning brace against Manchester City midweek. Of course each player was destined to score, and of course each did.

Denis’s goal also came just when Napoli are typically at their most vulnerable -- just after Ezequiel Lavezzi came on to replace Goran Pandev. This season the partenopei seem unsettled just after substitutions, even if they’re like-for-almost-like (let’s face it -- Pandy is no Pocho). Atalanta took advantage of that vulnerability, with Denis easily cutting apart the defense and putting the ball in the back of the net himself.

Napoli appeared as though they had no answers. After all, it’s tough to get the ball in the net when there are ten blue-and-black shirts in the way. But Zona Napoli, or Zona Mazzarri, or whatever you might want to call it, has returned, at least for one match. In the last minute of added time, Cavani received the ball from substitute Mario Santana and somehow managed to slide it through the morass of defenders for the equalizer.

Also of note: just before the goal by Cavani, it seemed that Lavezzi picked up a yellow for dissent when he kicked up a fuss about the amount of time Denis took to leave the field. But Walter Mazzarri is saying that he was never actually booked, and in fact it was Denis who earned the yellow. Others continue to say that Lavezzi has a yellow card, including several match reports.

Why is this important? Because a yellow would see Pocho miss the next match, midweek against Juventus. As for Juve, Claudio Marchisio did pick up an undisputed yellow, and will be unable to play.