Ten minutes of insanity, five before and five after the interval, saw Napoli down two goals and a man and almost out of the game, adding to their difficulties. After a lively and transparent opening forty-five minutes, both teams had their moments of dominance and possession. Both teams had chances, with Napoli having the first real chance to seriously threaten the opposition's goal in the 26th minute. With a point blank opportunity, Giacomo Raspadori struck it straight at the Torino custodian, who had positioned himself effectively and established himself.
Nikola Vlasic appeared to have the best chance of scoring for Torino, but all of his attempts were a touch off-target or delayed. Torino was awarded a free kick on the left of the centre circle, around 15 yards into their opponent's half, just as Napoli was starting to exert some control over the game.