Napoli run riot in Rome to pull clear of Inter Milan
Milan: Napoli ran riot in Rome with a 4-1 victory which pushed Roma out of the European places and consolidated second place for Carlo Ancelotti’s side in Serie A ahead of Inter Milan who fell 1-0 at home against Lazio.
Juventus closed in on an eighth consecutive Serie A title with on-form teenager Moise Kean scoring the only goal against Empoli on Saturday.
Napoli – a massive 15 points behind – have almost no chance of winning the title for the first time since 1990 with nine games to go, but have now a ten-point cushion on third-placed Inter.
Lazio, with a game in hand, moved up to fifth, three points behind AC Milan who occupy the final Champions League berth and also fell 1-0 to Sampdoria.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic sealed the three points for Lazio after 13 minutes in the San Siro on Sunday.
“It’s a heavy defeat against a direct rival,” said Inter coach Luciano Spalletti.
“We controlled the game for long periods, but were unlucky to waste our chances and then go behind, allowing Lazio to dictate their style of play.”
In Rome, Arkadiusz Milik put the visitors ahead after two minutes with Dries Mertens, Simone Verdi and Amin Younes adding three more in the second half to inflict another blow on the hosts’ Champions League ambitions next season.
“I expected a performance like this, the team is growing,” said Carlo Ancelotti, whose side are building towards a Europa League quarter-final clash against Arsenal.
“We were masters of the pitch.” It was a further blow for Roma coach Claudio Ranieri in just his third game since taking over from Eusebio Di Francesco as the Romans fell to their second consecutive defeat after lowly SPAL last time out.
“It’s tough. We’re going through a period where we concede from the first attack,” said former Leicester boss Ranieri.
“Do I regret having accepted Roma? Never. I could never regret training this club,” he added.
“We’re doing everything we can, but we’re not giving up.”
Roma are in danger of missing out on European football altogether as they drop to seventh, a point outside the Europa League places. — AFP