Napoli and PSG battle to 1-1 draw to leave group wide open

Napoli and Paris St Germain battled to a 1-1 draw in their Champions League match on Tuesday as Neymar produced a typical performance for the French side in which he mixed brilliance with petulance.

>>Reuters
Published : 6 Nov 2018, 10:52 PM
Updated : 6 Nov 2018, 10:56 PM

Juan Bernat gave PSG a deserved lead in first-half stoppage time before Lorenzo Insigne levelled from a penalty in the 62nd minute after Jose Callejon pounced on a mistake by PSG defender Thiago Silva and was upended in the area.

After four games each, Liverpool and Napoli have six points in Group C with PSG on five and Red Star Belgrade on four.

Neymar did not get on the score sheet but was in the thick of the action.

The Brazilian showed flashes of inspiration and sowed panic when he ran at the Napoli defence. Yet there were also moments when he was too individualist, argued with opponents and he was eventually booked for sarcastically applauding the referee.

PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, making his Champions League debut for them after completing a three-match ban from last season, did not have a save to make in the first half of his first match in Italy since leaving Juventus.

Napoli struggled to play their way out of defence against PSG's aggressive pressing and it was the visitors who had the better openings, eventually going ahead in the second minute of stoppage time.

Neymar released Kylian Mbappe down the left with a delightful chipped pass, the French World Cup winner twisted and turned his way past Raul Albiol and pulled the ball back to Juan Bernat who, despite stumbling, managed to beat David Ospina.

It was a different story after halftime as Napoli tore into the visitors.

Buffon twice denied Dries Mertens then a Jose Callejon shot was blocked by Thilo Kehrer and Fabian Ruiz was close with a drive from outside the penalty area.

Buffon somehow managed to stop a Lorenzo Insigne shot on the line which he knew nothing about and it took a penalty to finally beat the 40-year-old veteran.

Thiago Silva failed to intercept the ball, Callejon nipped in and was caught in a sandwich between Buffon and the Brazilian defender. Insigne converted and the San Paolo stadium went wild.

The game continued to be wide open and niggly but neither side could find a winner.