MILAN (AFP) – Romelu Lukaku made an immediate impact on his Napoli debut by netting the leveller which set up Saturday’s last-gasp 2-1 win over 10-man Parma, while AC Milan were held to an entertaining 2-2 draw at Lazio.
Belgium striker Lukaku completed a permanent move to Napoli from Chelsea on Thursday, ending a long period of limbo with the Blues.
And he helped save his new team from an embarrassing defeat against a Parma team who had to play nearly half an hour with a man down and an outfield player in goal.
Substitute Lukaku lashed home his first Napoli goal in the second of a whopping 15 minutes of stoppage time past Enrico Delprato, who went between the sticks following Zion Suzuki’s 76th-minute sending off.
Suzuki’s dismissal for a second booking came moments after coach Fabio Pecchia had made his last possible substitutions for Parma, who had taken a shock 19th-minute lead from the penalty spot through Ange-Yoan Bonny.
And Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa thumped home the winning header four minutes after Lukaku’s equaliser to hand Napoli a dramatic second win from their first three matches.
Lukaku netted after being presented to home fans alongside Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour to supporters before kick-off, all three signed in the days leading up to the match with Parma.
“It’s an honour to play for this team, these fans and the players who have welcomed me here so well. It’s been bit of a habit of mine over my career to score on my debut but at the end of the day we won, and that’s the most important thing,” Lukaku told DAZN.
Lukaku was brought in to replace Victor Osimhen who has been excluded from the Napoli squad after failing to find an exit from southern Italy.
Osimhen had been agitating for a move away from Napoli after the club descended into chaos almost immediately after claiming their third league crown last year.
But no club came close to both meeting Napoli’s valuation and satisfying Osimhen’s wage requirements, leaving the 25-year-old in a gilded cage as the club builds a new team for Antonio Conte.
Milan coach Paulo Fonseca dropped star players Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez as he tried to shake things up following two deeply disappointing opening displays.
But both were brought on shortly after Lazio took the lead in the 66th minute following two quickfire tap-ins from Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia which cancelled out Strahinja Pavlovic’s early opener.
And Leao almost immediately levelled the scores after combining with Hernandez and fellow substitute Tammy Abraham, who made his Milan debut less than a day after arriving on loan from Roma.
However Milan sit 14th on two points, hardly the start fans were hoping for after Fonseca replaced Stefano Pioli during the close season.
