Napoli lay Lazio low, back on top
Milan, Feb. 11: Napoli stamped their authority on the Italian league title race with a come- from- behind 41 thumping of Lazio on Saturday to reclaim top spot from champions Juventus.
Juventus’s 2- 0 win in Fiorentina had put them top on Friday, but Maurizio Sarri’s side responded in style to maintain their onepoint advantage over the six- time defending champions.
It was a third straight defeat for Lazio whose position in third — 17 points behind Napoli — is now threatened by Inter Milan and Roma who host Bologna and bottom side Benevento respectively on Sunday.
Lazio had taken the lead in Naples when Stefan de Vrij scored in the third minute at the San Paolo Stadium from a Ciro Immobile cross, before Jose Callejon pulled the hosts level just before the break.
Napoli’s second came from an unfortunate Lazio own goal as Brazilian defender Wallace tried to intercept a Callejon centre on 53 minutes only to send the ball past his own goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha.
Lazio were reeling two minutes later when leftback Mario Rui scored with a long- range effort which took a lucky deflection off Piotr Zielinski, with the Polish midfielder setting up Dries Mertens, back after an ankle injury, for the fourth and his 15th goal in Serie A this season after 72 minutes. Earlier, Patrick Cutrone hit a double with Lucas Biglia and Fabio Borini also scoring as AC Milan crushed SPAL 4- 0 to boost their European ambitions.
Striker Cutrone, 20, took centre stage with Nikola Kalinic injured and Davide Calabria suspended, opening the scoring after two minutes in Ferrara off a rebound and doubling the lead from close range on 65 minutes.
Argentine Biglia got his first Milan goal on 73 minutes with Borini coming off the bench to complete the scoring as Milan recorded a fourth win in their last five Serie A games.
But Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso insisted that the victory was not as easy as the scoreline suggested.
“We mustn’t think that this result will solve our problems,” said Gattuso.
“We have to keep working to improve. The only thing I ask the lads is not to stop believing in our possibilities. The 4- 0 result didn’t reflect how much we suffered when only 1- 0 up,” he added.
Gattuso’s side move up to seventh. — AFP