Targeting a third consecutive home win, Genoa took the chance to establish a surprise early lead from the penalty spot.
Vitinha pounced on a loose backpass to draw the foul from goalkeeper Alex Meret, who could not prevent Ruslan Malinovskyi from calmly slotting his penalty down the centre of the goal.
After being dealt an early setback, Napoli demonstrated great character to turn the game in their favour with two goals in quick succession before the midway point of the first period.
Manchester United loanee Hojlund was in the right place to tap in the rebound from Scott McTominay’s saved shot, ending the wait for his first Serie A goal of 2026.
Moments later, McTominay conjured up a stunning strike from distance, shifting the ball away from the slipping Malinovskyi before rifling it out of Justin Bijlow’s reach to register his 10th goal of the campaign.
The Scotsman’s unstoppable effort proved enough to establish a narrow lead at the break, but that was ultimately where his involvement came to an end due to injury.
Without their talismanic figure, Napoli made a sloppy start to the second period, with a lapse in concentration allowing Lorenzo Colombo to restore parity before the hour mark.
The forward caught Alessandro Buongiorno napping in possession and quickly raced away to slide the ball past Meret, who got his angles all wrong in a forgettable passage of play for Antonio Conte’s side.
Napoli’s disastrous defensive display took another turn for the worse when Juan Jesus was sent off in the 76th minute, receiving the second of his two yellows for an ill-advised pull-back of Caleb Ekuban’s shirt.
The defensive mistakes looked set to cost the visitors two points until they were handed a late lifeline following Maxwel Cornet’s clumsy challenge on Antonio Vergara.
Hojlund stepped up to drive his unconvincing penalty under Bijlow’s left hand, snatching all three points for the visitors who close the gap to leaders Inter Milan to six points, while the hosts remain six points clear of the drop.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rasmus Hojlund (Napoli)
