Champions League: Di Maria earns PSG late draw with Napoli
Paris: Angel Di Maria’s late goal helped Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain register a 2-2 draw at home with Serie A outfit Napoli in the UEFA Champions League third round here.
The visitors were well on track to snatching three points on Wednesday night, before the Argentine winger scored an excellent curling shot outside the penalty area deep in stoppage time, reports Xinhua news agency.
Napoli sit second in Group C with five points, and PSG are one point behind. Liverpool top the group with six points after taming Red Star Belgrade 4-0 at home.
Napoli almost opened the scoring in the 24th minute, as Dries Mertens latched onto Mario Rui’s left-flank cross, only to see his tip bounce off the cross bar.
However, Napoli didn’t wait quite long for their goal to arrive. Five minutes later, Joss Callejon’s pass released Lorenzo Insigne, who delivered a clever chip over goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
PSG head coach Thomas Tuchel adopted three backs in the second half, which turned out in an effective manner later on.
The hosts came back into contention following Rui’s 61st-minute own goal.
Napoli managed to go ahead again in the 77th minute. Mertens poked home after PSG captain Marquinhos carelessly dealt with the ball, but that was canceled out by Di Maria three minutes into stoppage time.
PSG will visit Napoli in the fourth round on November 6.
