Napoli survive late scare to edge Bodø/Glimt 4-3 in Champions League thriller

Seven goals, an own goal that looked like it had sealed the game, and a stoppage-time shot off the crossbar that came within inches of forcing extra time: Napoli beat Bodø/Glimt 4-3 at the Diego Armando Maradona in a Champions League league-phase match that wasn't decided until the final whistle.

Napoli wasted no time taking the lead. Before the clock had even hit the one-minute mark, Matteo Politano had already finished with his left foot from the center of the box off a cross from Leonardo Spinazzola. But Bodø/Glimt, who would go on to dominate possession with 56.8 percent to Napoli's 43.2 percent, didn't flinch: in the 26th minute, Jens Petter Hauge leveled things with a shot from inside the box after an assist from Sondre Fet.

The hosts went back in front before halftime. Scott McTominay, who would end up being the man of the match, popped up in the 40th minute to make it 2-1 with a shot from the left side of the box, set up by Kevin De Bruyne. That's how the teams went into the break.

End-to-end, no let-up

The second half followed the same script: every time Napoli pulled ahead, the Norwegian side answered. Andreas Helmersen tied it up again in the 61st minute, also assisted by Sondre Fet, who had a hand in every single one of Bodø/Glimt's goals on the night. The equalizer didn't last long: in the 74th minute, McTominay netted his second with a header in the middle of the box, this time off a feed from Politano. Napoli appeared to have put the game away in the 87th minute, when Bodø/Glimt defender Odin Bjørtuft turned the ball into his own net to make it 4-2. The match went into stoppage time, which the fourth official extended to four minutes, and that's when the final twist came: off a corner kick, Odin Bjørtuft crashed a shot off the crossbar, and on the very next play, in the 93rd minute, Sondre Fet rose to head home from close range to make it a final 4-3.

What the numbers say

Bodø/Glimt had the edge in possession and corners, but Napoli was sharper in the final third for much of the match.

According to our expected goals estimate based on the match's shots, Bodø/Glimt generated 3.17 xG to Napoli's 1.89, a gap that reflects just how tight, and how open, the contest was, even though the result ultimately went Napoli's way.

Before kickoff, our projection gave Napoli a 32 percent chance of winning, 28 percent for a draw and 40 percent in favor of Bodø/Glimt, with a projected total of 2.93 goals. The final score, with seven goals split between the two sides, blew well past that figure, and Napoli's win, the outcome the preview had rated as least likely of the three, ended up happening anyway.

What the result means

The win lifts Napoli to 3 points in the league phase, sitting 22nd in the table with a record of one win and two losses through three matches. Bodø/Glimt, despite battling until the final minute, also sit on 3 points after one win and two losses in their three games, in 26th place. Neither side was, at the close of this round, among the top spots in a table led by Paris Saint-Germain with 9 points.