Napoli close the gap to Juventus
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Crotone yesterday and will not be able to clinch a seventh successive Serie A title this weekend against closest rivals Napoli.
Juventus were leading 1-0 at Crotone and, with Napoli losing against Udinese, knew if results stayed the same a win on Sunday would hand it the crown with four matches remaining.
But Simy equalised for Crotone and Napoli beat Udinese 4-2 to instead close the gap to four points.
“A month and a half ago I would have happily signed a paper to arrive at the match against Napoli with a four-point advantage,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. “It will certainly be a great battle on Sunday and I wouldn’t sign for a draw.”
Elsewhere, the battle for the Champions League places heated up as Roma and Lazio both won to remain third and fourth, respectively, on the same number of points.
They are one point above fifth-place Inter Milan. The top four from Serie A qualify for Europe’s premier club competition.
FIGHTBACK
Napoli’s title hopes diminished on Sunday when they were held to a 0-0 draw at AC Milan.
And Maurizio Sarri’s side endured another setback when Jakub Jankto tapped in to give Udinese the lead four minutes from half-time on Wednesday.
Lorenzo Insigne levelled moments later, but teenager Svante Ingelsson restored Udinese’s advantage 10 minutes into the second half.
But news of Crotone’s equaliser filtered through to the home fans and that seemed to inspire Napoli as Raul Albiol headed in a corner to put Napoli back on level terms.
Other results: Fiorentina 3 Lazio 4; Roma 2 Genoa 1; Torino 1 AC Milan 1; Benevento 0 Atalanta 3; Verona 0 Sassuolo 1; Sampdoria 1 Bologna 0; Spal 0 Chievo 0.