Hojlund seals dramatic Napoli victory with late penalty at Genoa

Rasmus Hojlund converted a penalty in deep stoppage time to secure a thrilling 3-2 win for Napoli against Genoa on Saturday, helping the defending champions stay in contention for the Serie A crown.

The Danish striker netted twice, bringing his league tally to eight goals from 20 appearances this season, with ex Manchester United teammate Scott McTominay also scoring at the Luigi Ferraris ground in northern Italy.

The result keeps Antonio Contes sidelined squad in third place, marking their second successive victory and reducing the deficit to frontrunners Inter Milan, who face Sassuolo away on Sunday, to six points.

Genoa struck first in the third minute via a penalty from Ukrainian player Ruslan Malinovskyi.

However, two quickfire goals in under two minutes flipped the script, as Hojlund opened his account followed by McTominays effort that gave the visitors the lead around the midpoint of the opening period.

Napoli appeared to unravel after the interval when Genoas Lorenzo Colombo capitalised on a blunder to level the scores, and then defender Juan Jesus received a red card for his second yellow.

Yet, a challenge by Ivorian winger Maxwel Cornet handed Hojlund the opportunity to become the matchwinner from 12 yards, lifting his overall goal count to 12 across 30 outings this campaign.

Conte faced further setbacks, with McTominay withdrawing at the break through injury.

The ex Italy, Chelsea, Inter, and Juventus manager was missing several stars including Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Frank Anguissa, and skipper Giovanni Di Lorenzo.

Runner up AC Milan welcome Como on Sunday, while fourth placed Juventus host Lazio.