Insigne curls in late winner for Napoli against Roma

Updated: May 17, 2023, 12:15 am

Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne curled in a late goal to give them a 2-1 win at home to AS Roma in Serie A on Sunday while inspirational midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo made his return for the visitors after a knee injury.

Insigne collected the ball just on the edge of the area, sent a dipping shot into the far corner in the 82nd minute and then celebrated by chest-bumping his coach Gennaro Gattuso as Napoli pulled level with their opponents on 48 points.

Roma stayed ahead in fifth spot on goal difference as the teams are level on their head-to-head record.

Arkadiusz Milik headed against the crossbar for Napoli in the first half and the rebound ricocheted off Jose Callejon and bounced over from close range.

At the other end, Lorenzo Pellegrini should have done better after Davide Zappacosta pulled the ball back.

Callejon put Napoli ahead 10 minutes after the restart when he got in front of his marker to turn Mario Rui's inviting cross into the net.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan levelled five minutes later, collecting Edin Dzeko's crossfield pass and then surging forward to beat Alex Meret with a bouncing shot from just outside the area.

Zaniolo, 21, who suffered a knee injury in January, was brought on in the 66th minute for a welcome return but it was Insigne had the last word as he condemned Roma to a third successive defeat.