Napoli 3-3 Roma: Scott McTominay and Leonardo Balerdi both score twice in a six-goal thriller

Napoli led by two goals twice and still could not hold on. Frank Anguissa and a Scott McTominay header either side of half-time put the hosts 2-0 up inside the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, only for Matìas Soulè and Leonardo Balerdi to drag Roma level inside five minutes midway through the second half. McTominay restored Napoli's lead with his second of the afternoon in the 83rd minute, and Balerdi, a centre-back playing like a second striker, equalised again four minutes later to make it 3-3 and deny Napoli what would have been a rare home win this season.

McTominay's double keeps Napoli's attack ticking

Scott McTominay scored twice from midfield, a role he has filled as a goal threat for Napoli since arriving from Manchester United. His first, a header converted from Matteo Politano's cross three minutes into the second half, put Napoli two clear and looked to have the game under control. His second, in the 83rd minute and set up by Mathías Olivera, restored the lead after Roma had just level things up — the kind of goal that should have been enough to see a home side with Napoli's recent struggles over the line.

Balerdi's goals come from the other end of the pitch

Leonardo Balerdi is a centre-back by trade, which made his contribution to Roma's comeback all the more unusual: he scored twice, first finishing from a Santiago Castro assist in the 74th minute to make it 2-2, then heading in a Wesley delivery in the 89th to complete the point-saving fightback at 3-3. Between those two goals, Roma had also found a way back through Matìas Soulè, who finished a Donyell Malen pass in the 69th minute to start the chase — three different Roma goals in the space of twenty minutes turning a comfortable deficit into a result Gian Piero Gasperini's side could be satisfied with on the road.

A game that swung on cards as much as goals

Roma finished the match with four yellow cards to Napoli's one, with Bryan Cristante, Devyne Rensch, Balerdi himself and Marten de Roon all booked as the visitors pushed numbers forward to chase the equalisers — a sign of how much defensive discipline Roma sacrificed in search of the goals that ultimately arrived. Napoli, for their part, had the better of the chances on the night, out-shooting Roma 9-4 on target despite seeing less of the ball (39.4% possession to Roma's 60.6%) and conceding eleven corners to Roma's two — a match where Roma's control of territory never quite matched Napoli's edge in front of goal.

Form going into it

Napoli's form had been patchy: after beating Frosinone 3-0 at home, they lost 0-1 away to Venezia in their last Serie A outing, sandwiched between Champions League results that went a defeat at Villarreal and a win over Bodø/Glimt, and arrived in need of exactly the kind of response this scoreline nearly delivered. Roma, by contrast, had followed back-to-back draws — at home to Inter, then away at Como — with a 2-0 home win over Genoa, and came into the Maradona as the division's third-placed side, unbeaten in the league all season before this draw extended that run rather than ending it.

Scorers

• 28' — Frank Anguissa (Napoli)
• 48' — Scott McTominay (Napoli, header), assisted by Matteo Politano
• 69' — Matìas Soulè (Roma), assisted by Donyell Malen
• 74' — Leonardo Balerdi (Roma), assisted by Santiago Castro
• 83' — Scott McTominay (Napoli), assisted by Mathías Olivera
• 89' — Leonardo Balerdi (Roma, header), assisted by Wesley

Match facts

Line-ups

Where it leaves the table

The point takes Roma to 18 and 3rd place, still unbeaten in Serie A this season with five wins and three draws, inside the Champions League zone four points above fifth-placed Como. Napoli stay 10th on 11 points from eight games, three wins, two draws and three losses — closer to the middle of the table than to the European places, but a result like this one, against a side that had not lost all season, is not nothing for a team still finding its level after a difficult Champions League campaign in parallel.

What's next

Roma's unbeaten Serie A run survives into the next round, even if the manner of this draw will raise questions about a defence that conceded three times at the Maradona, while Napoli will wonder how two separate two-goal cushions both slipped away against the same opponent on the same afternoon.