Napoli Vs. Juventus, 2011 Serie A: All Even At 3-3 In Possibly The Best Serie A Match Of The Season

The misery wasn’t yet over for Napoli, however. Despite Walter Mazzarri making a rare defensive substitution, replacing Aronica with Federico Fernandez, the visitors came back and snatched a draw in the 79th minute. Pepe may have had a bit of a blinder in the first half, but he attempted to make up for it with his goal, taking the ball through the midfield, past two Napoli defenders, and sliding the ball on into the bottom corner.

Hamsik’s goal came in the 22nd minute, and the match has been more or less all Napoli in the following minutes. The azzurri shirts just keep pouring forth. Goran Pandev’s low shot managed to wiggle out from beneath Gigi Buffon, but fortunately for the visitors, no one was quick enough to pounce.

Don’t discount Juventus just yet, however. They’ve got an unbeaten record and a top-table standing to protect. Should Morgan De Sanctis so much as flinch in front of goal, Napoli could lose their lead.

But then chaos ensued. The referee called back the goal, apparently for players encroaching inside the area. Of course, the next time Hamsik sent the ball sky-high, and despite players once again entering the box, the ref did not make Napoli take the penalty a third time. The score remains 0-0, and the match, already chippy between the two teams, is certainly not about to get any more friendly.