Lorenzo Tonelli scores late winner on long-awaited Napoli debut

After sitting on the bench all season, Lorenzo Tonelli finally got a chance to play for Napoli on Saturday and he made quite an impact in their 2-1 win over Sampdoria.

With Kalidou Koulibaly and Faouzi Ghoulam away at the African Nations Cup, Tonelli celebrated his season debut by scoring the winner five minutes into stoppage time as Napoli came back from a goal down to beat Samp's 10 men.

Sampdoria led on the half-hour mark with an own goal from Elseid Hysaj. Patrick Schick got by Vlad Chiriche near the right sideline and his cross was redirected in by Hysaj with Fabio Quagliarella waiting by the far post.

Napoli hardly threatened in the first half but the Partenopei came to life after the break.

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Dries Mertens wasted a clear look at the goal by shooting high and Sampdoria were reduced to 10 men when Matias Silvestre picked up his second yellow card for disturbing Pepe Reina as the Napoli goalkeeper attempted a kick.

After another near miss from Mertens, Napoli finally found the target in the 77th minute when Manolo Gabbiadini equalised with his knee after being set up less than a yard out by Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Callejon.

Tonelli was ready when teammate Ivan Strinic set him up in the center of the area in the final seconds, meeting the pass with a rising shot that left a crowd of Sampdoria defenders helpless inside the box.

The victory extended Napoli's unbeaten run to eight matches and moved last season's runners-up level on points with second-place Roma, who visit Genoa on Sunday.