Napoli beat Bodo/Glimt 4-3 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Tuesday night to take their first Champions League points of the season, Scott McTominay scoring twice in a game the hosts led inside the first minute and still nearly let slip at the end.

Matteo Politano volleyed in Leonardo Spinazzola’s cross after 53 seconds. Jens Petter Hauge levelled on 27 minutes, McTominay restored the lead on 41 minutes from Kevin De Bruyne’s pass, and Napoli led 2-1 at half-time. Andreas Helmersen made it 2-2 on 63 minutes, McTominay headed in Politano’s cross on 75 minutes to make it 3-2, and an Odin Bjortuft own goal on 88 minutes stretched it to 4-2 after Giovane had forced an error from Fredrik Sjovold. Sondre Fet, who had set up both Bodo/Glimt goals, scored in the fourth minute of added time to close it to 4-3. Both sides now have three points from three league-phase games.

The win eases some of the pressure that had built around Massimiliano Allegri’s side, whose problems were set out in our look at Napoli’s crisis and the two games to fix it. It does not fix the defending. Bodo/Glimt had 57% of the ball, 15 shots and five corners to Napoli’s two, and they scored three times in Naples.

Napoli ratings

Alex Meret: 8. Beaten three times, but Napoli do not win without him. He made a reaction save from Sondre Auklend’s point-blank flick in the first half and got down to palm Patrick Berg’s low shot round the post on 66 minutes when Bodo/Glimt were pushing to go 3-2 up.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo: 6. Denied by Nikita Haikin early on and booked on 86 minutes after a heavy collision. His side of the defence was the busier one once Bodo/Glimt settled.

Amir Rrahmani: 6. Won his share in the air and kept his position for long spells, but the back four never looked settled when Bodo/Glimt moved the ball quickly through midfield.

Rafa Marin: 6. Helmersen was given too much time to turn between two defenders for the second equaliser, and Marin was one of them. Otherwise he passed the ball cleanly out from the back.

Leonardo Spinazzola: 7. His run down the left and cross after 53 seconds set up the opening goal. He was replaced by Sam Beukema on 79 minutes as Allegri closed the game down.

Frank Anguissa: 5. Booked on 48 minutes and replaced by Stanislav Lobotka on 60 minutes. Bodo/Glimt had their best spell of control either side of his departure, and he did not screen the defence as he usually does.

Scott McTominay: 9. Two goals, one a poked finish from De Bruyne’s pass on 41 minutes and the second a back-post header from Politano’s cross on 75 minutes. He also hit the post on the hour from another De Bruyne ball and finished with seven shots. It was the performance Napoli needed from him.

Kevin De Bruyne: 7. The pass for McTominay’s first goal was measured through the line, and he put McTominay in again for the shot that hit the post. Napoli’s best openings came from his feet.

Matteo Politano: 8. A goal inside a minute, volleying in Spinazzola’s cross, and the cross for McTominay’s second goal. He went off on 79 minutes for Mathias Olivera with the game still open.

Rasmus Hojlund: 5. He struck the side netting with his clearest chance in the first half and saw little of the ball after that. Giovane’s late run across goal was aimed at him before Bjortuft turned it in.

Noa Lang: 6. Denied twice by Haikin in the first half and tested him again cutting inside after the break. Booked on 58 minutes and replaced by Giovane on 79 minutes.

Substitutes: Stanislav Lobotka (on 60 minutes) 6, kept the ball moving as Napoli tried to slow the game. Giovane (on 79 minutes) 7, harassed Sjovold into the error by the corner flag and rolled the ball across for the own goal that made it 4-2. Sam Beukema (on 79 minutes) 6 and Mathias Olivera (on 79 minutes) 6, both part of a defence that still conceded once more in added time.

Bodo/Glimt ratings

Nikita Haikin: 7. He conceded four and still had a good game. He denied Lang twice and Di Lorenzo once in the first half, and none of the four goals came from a goalkeeping error.

Fredrik Sjovold: 5. The mistake that led to the fourth goal was his. Giovane won the ball off him near the corner flag on 88 minutes, and the cross that followed was turned in by his own centre-back.

Jostein Gundersen: 6. His deflection sent an early McTominay effort wide, and he competed well against Hojlund. He was replaced by Haitam Aleesami on 84 minutes.

Odin Bjortuft: 5. The own goal on 88 minutes goes against him, and it decided the game. He nearly made up for it at the other end, his volley coming back off the underside of the bar before Fet finished it.

Fredrik Bjorkan: 6. He got forward often in a side that held most of the ball, and he was part of the pressure that built before the second equaliser. Replaced by Isak Dybvik Maatta on 84 minutes.

Ole Didrik Blomberg: 5. He could not keep a header down from a good position in the first half, and he beat Meret to a long ball over the top only for the goalkeeper to recover his centre. Replaced by Joel Mvuka on 84 minutes.

Patrick Berg: 6. His low shot on 66 minutes forced the save of the match from Meret. He kept Bodo/Glimt playing through midfield for long spells.

Sondre Fet: 9. Two assists, for Hauge on 27 minutes and for Helmersen on 63 minutes, the second played through a defender’s legs, and then a goal of his own in the fourth minute of added time. He was the best player on the losing side by a distance.

Sondre Auklend: 6. His point-blank flick brought the reaction save from Meret in the first half. Replaced by Ulrik Saltnes on 83 minutes.

Jens Petter Hauge: 7. The equaliser on 27 minutes was Bodo/Glimt’s first real chance, and he guided it into the bottom corner from the left side of the area. He stayed a threat on that side all night.

Andreas Helmersen: 7. For the second equaliser he was given time to turn between two defenders and finished from 12 yards on 63 minutes. Replaced by Ola Brynhildsen on 77 minutes.

Substitutes: Ola Brynhildsen (on 77 minutes) 6. Ulrik Saltnes, Joel Mvuka, Isak Dybvik Maatta and Haitam Aleesami all came on in a four-man change on 83 and 84 minutes, too late to change the result, though the side still scored once more.

What it means

Napoli’s predicted side for this game, set out in our Napoli lineup against Bodo/Glimt, had them set up to control the match. They did not control it. They won it on moments: a goal in the first minute, two from McTominay, and an own goal forced by a substitute in the 88th minute. The pattern was closer to the open game in Paris on the same night than to a side settling a tie early, and on another evening in this competition, as in Borussia Dortmund’s win at Sabah, the away side’s pressure told.

Napoli are at home to Roma in Serie A on Saturday 24 October. Bodo/Glimt are at home to Valerenga in the Eliteserien on the same day.