Kevin De Bruyne inspires Napoli to late double to begin campaign with win over Genoa

[p]Not willing to hand Allegri an easy start to his tenure, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/genoa/d0PJxeie/"]Genoa[/a] began brightly. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/frendrup-morten/2XPmtx2l/"]Morten Frendrup[/a] wasn’t far from the spectacular with his 30-yard volley, and from the resulting goal kick, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/napoli/l0jeuzXc/"]Napoli[/a] surrendered possession to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vitinha/AazXYT3h/"]Vitinha[/a], whose fizzing effort flew narrowly wide.[/p][p]The visitors weathered the early storm, but Genoa were soon on top again, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/baldanzi-tommaso/QySTk0pB/"]Tommaso Baldanzi[/a]’s shot needed a vital block before Alex Amorim struck an effort straight at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/meret-alex/EBsz2tTd/"]Alex Meret[/a]. With half-time approaching, Gli Azzurri finally sparked into life as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alisson-santos/tYb4OysQ/"]Alisson Santos[/a] cut in from the left and fired his side’s first real effort into the side netting, shortly before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/spinazzola-leonardo/UgYYWt1i/"]Leonardo Spinazzola[/a] caught a half-clearance well on the volley, forcing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bijlow-justin/65xR64Rt/"]Justin Bijlow[/a] to remain alert.[/p][p]These two teams were separated by 14 places last season, yet they remained inseparable after Bijlow clutched a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mctominay-scott/A7S3y397/"]Scott McTominay[/a] drive in the 63rd minute – the first effort on goal after the break. The introduction of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-bruyne-kevin/MsPs6OI5/"]Kevin De Bruyne[/a] from the bench only increased Napoli’s control, and when his corner was worked across to McTominay, the Scotsman drilled the ball across the face of goal, where the outstretched [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hojlund-rasmus/0lk9Mt7D/"]Rasmus Højlund[/a] was unable to make contact.[/p][p]Approaching the final 10 minutes, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/messias-junior/8l36RdAF/"]Junior Messias[/a] earned the Grifone some respite with a mazy run which began in his own half, eventually being halted at the edge of the Napoli box, where [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sow-djibril/tUNr1qOE/"]Djibril Sow[/a] picked up the loose ball and sent an effort into the side netting.[/p][p][b]That proved costly for the hosts, as Napoli took the lead two minutes later. De Bruyne played an audacious one-two with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vergara-antonio/0bwMG5SF/"]Antonio Vergara[/a] to work his way into the box, where he shrugged off his marker and fired past Bijlow.[/b][/p][p][b]Genoese protests for a foul by the Belgian had barely subsided when De Bruyne set up Napoli’s second, as his low cross was cleverly left by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lucca-lorenzo/UVyQpa9t/"]Lorenzo Lucca[/a], allowing Vergara to squeeze the ball over the line despite the best efforts of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/otoa-sebastian/CEQZDQXk/"]Sebastian Otoa[/a].[/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="10229b8e-f5fd-47e8-9bc9-33d687460581" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="f3ad86c8-f054-4690-91ad-9222a5efcae0" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Those strikes increased Napoli’s first-day record to nine wins in the last 10 years, while Genoa have now won one of the last 27 H2H matches in Serie A.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rrahmani-amir/8Sw4X8wk/"]Amir Rrahmani[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/napoli/69Dxbc61/"]Napoli[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/genoa-d0PJxeie/napoli-69Dxbc61/?mid=z9lazV4t"]C[/a][/b][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/genoa-d0PJxeie/napoli-69Dxbc61/?mid=z9lazV4t"]heck out the match stats here[/a][/b].[/p]