Gonzalo Higuain scored a late equaliser and missed a stoppage-time penalty as Napoli came from behind to claim a 1-1 draw against 10-man Atalanta BC this evening.
Higuain came close early on for the visitors, but he could only place his effort from the edge of the box wide of the post.
David Lopez was the next to threaten for Napoli with a powerful strike from range that went just over the bar.
The visitors continued to dominate and Marek Hamsik came close when he drove into the box and fired in a low strike that Marco Sportiello saved at his near post.
Napoli looked the team more likely to open the scoring and Dries Mertens fired a powerful drive from the edge of the box just wide.
Against the run of play, Atalanta took the lead in the 58th minute when German Denis arrived to head in Cristian Raimondi's cross.
Jose Callejon should have brought Napoli level just minutes later, but somehow he fired the ball over the bar from just a yard out.
With seven minutes left to play the hosts were reduced to 10 men after Luca Cigarini picked up his second booking of the match.
Napoli made their numerical advantage count almost immediately as three minutes later Higuain equalised when he collected Lorenzo Insigne's cross before turning and firing a low effort into the corner.
In stoppage time Napoli were awarded a penalty when Guglielmo Stendardo brought down Duvan Zapata inside the box.
Higuain stepped up to take the spot kick, but he saw his effort saved by Sportiello as the game finished in a draw.
Alex Meyers
