Napoli have taken a 1-0 half-time lead over Genoa in their Serie A match at the Stadio San Paolo this evening.

The hosts made a strong start to the match and they took the lead in the seventh minute when Mattia Perin parried Jose Callejon's strike into the path of Gonzalo Higuain, who headed the rebound in from close range.

David Lopez threatened a second for Napoli with a swerving drive from range that was held by the keeper.

Genoa were creating chances of their own and Edenilson forced Rafael to touch his low effort wide of the post.

Napoli then thought that they should have been awarded a penalty when Ivan Strinic's cross appeared to strike the arm of Facundo Roncaglia, but nothing was given by the referee.

The pace of the game was unrelenting and the hosts came close again when Marek Hamsik was picked out inside the box by Higuain, before blazing wildly over the bar.

Moments later Jonathan de Guzman was guilty of missing another huge chance for Napoli when he was played clean through on goal, before lifting the ball over the bar.

They were almost made to pay before the break as Luca Antonelli latched on to Diego Perotti's clever flick and drilled a strike into the arms of the keeper.