Napoli remain at risk of an early Champions League exit after being pegged back in a 1-1 draw with the 10 men of Copenhagen on Wednesday.

The reigning Serie A champions looked to be on course for three precious points when Scott McTominay rose to meet a left-sided corner from Eljif Elmas and plant a firm header into the top-right corner.

That goal came seven minutes before half-time and shortly after Copenhagen were reduced to 10 men, with captain Thomas Delaney seeing red for a high lunge on Stanislav Lobotka, with his punishment upgraded following a VAR review.

But Napoli failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage after the interval, and Copenhagen were gifted a golden chance to equalise when Alessandro Buongiorno chopped Mohamed Elyounoussi down in the area after 69 minutes.

Jordan Larsson's tame spot-kick was saved by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, but the Copenhagen forward pounced on the rebound to tap home.

Substitute Lorenzo Lucca missed a glorious chance to win it for Napoli late on, and they remain 23rd in the standings – level on points with Copenhagen in 24th – with a showdown with Chelsea to come next week.

And Ajax induced further anxiety among Napoli's supporters by beating Villarreal 2-1, with Oliver Edvardsen scoring an 89th-minute winner.

The Eredivisie giants could still reach the play-offs despite losing their first five games in this season's competition, with Olympiacos set to visit Amsterdam in their final fixture.

Data Debrief: Copenhagen stand firm

Napoli have so often turned to McTominay to provide the heroics since his arrival from Manchester United, and he has now scored four Champions League goals this season.

Dries Mertens (six in 2019-20 and five in 2016-17), Edinson Cavani (five in 2011-12) and Victor Osimhen (five in 2022-23) have scored more in a single season for Napoli.

But they could not finish the job here, as Copenhagen avoided defeat for the fourth time in five attempts when seeing a player sent off in the Champions League (W1 D3 L1) – only against Sevilla have they been defeated with 10 men in the competition (3-0 in October 2022).