Allegri's Napoli were going nowhere at Marassi — then De Bruyne came on
Goalless for 82 minutes, and then two goals in five. Kevin De Bruyne scored one and made the other for Antonio Vergara as Napoli opened the Allegri era with a 2-0 win at Genoa.
Massimiliano Allegri's first competitive night as Napoli coach was, for eighty minutes, exactly the kind of game he has spent a career being accused of enjoying. Goalless. Tidy. Nothing much happening at either end of the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Then the bench solved it. Kevin De Bruyne, held back after his summer with Belgium, came on and settled the whole thing inside five minutes. 🇧🇪
Two goals in five minutes
At 82', De Bruyne got in front of Johan Vásquez, took Antonio Vergara's touch inside the six-yard box and finished from close range. Genoa were furious — they wanted a foul on Vásquez, and Vásquez himself seemed to stop expecting the whistle. It never came, and the goal stood.
Five minutes later De Bruyne swung a low ball across the face of goal and Vergara arrived to convert it. 0-2, and a first half that had produced nothing suddenly looked like a long time ago.
Daniele De Rossi's Genoa were not overrun. They had 46% of the ball and 11 shots against Napoli's 13, and the expected goals split almost evenly — 0.66 to 0.75. The difference was that Napoli got four attempts on target and Genoa got two, and one of those four fell to the best passer on the pitch standing seven yards out.
Allegri started McTominay, Rasmus Højlund and Alisson Santos and got very little from the front of the team. He will not mind much. Three points in the opener, a clean sheet, and the reminder that De Bruyne is the sort of substitute most of Serie A cannot make.
Match facts
- 82' — Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli), assist Antonio Vergara
- 87' — Antonio Vergara (Napoli), assist Kevin De Bruyne
- Half-time: Genoa 0-0 Napoli
- Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa — Serie A matchday 1, Saturday 22 August 2026
| Stat | Genoa | Napoli |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 46% | 54% |
| Total shots | 11 | 13 |
| Shots on target | 2 | 4 |
| Expected goals (xG) | 0.66 | 0.75 |
| Accurate passes | 377 (88%) | 453 (90%) |
| Corners | 5 | 5 |
| Fouls committed | 10 | 8 |
| Saves | 2 | 2 |
What's next
Napoli host Como at the Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday 30 August, a home debut for Allegri against a side that likes the ball as much as his does not. Genoa travel to Lazio the same day, which is a hard place to go looking for a first point of the season.
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