Cardiff close gap to Championship leaders Wolves
> Slovakian scores his 115th goal as Napoli capitalise on Inter ’s slip to move top
MAREK HAMSIK equalled Diego Maradona’s record as Napoli’s alltime top goalscorer as they took advantage of Inter Milan’s first defeat of the season and moved top of Serie A with a 3-1 win at Torino yesterday.
Inter went down 3-1 to Udinese at the San Siro earlier in the day and Hamsik, who now has 115 Napoli goals in all competitions, led the way as Maurizio Sarri’s side made the most of Inter’s loss with a three-goal blitz in the first half-hour that saw off Torino and moved them top on 42 points, two ahead of Inter, who drop back to second.
“It’s very pleasing to score 115 goals as a midfielder. That’s a good number,” Slovakian international Hamsik told Sky Sport Italia.
Napoli’s win came after a 1-0 home defeat by Juventus a fortnight ago that saw them relinquish top spot to Inter and a poor goalless draw with Fiorentina last week that saw them fail to take advantage of Inter’s own 0-0 draw at Juve.
“We are really happy with the performance,” added Hamsik.
“I don’t know if it’s an advantage to be top of the table, but it can help us remember how strong we are.”
The loss for Luciano Spalletti’s team also gives third-placed Juventus, themselves four points behind Napoli, the opportunity to leapfrog their old rivals Inter at Bologna later.
“We will probably need of something (in the winter transfer window) if we’re going to make that step forward,” admitted Spalletti.
Fourth-placed Roma moved level on points with Juve as Argentinian centreback Federico Fazio’s 94th-minute goal grabbed a 1-0 win over Cagliari, after Diego Perotti had earlier missed a penalty.
The capital club are well in the title race, just four points adrift of Napoli with a game in hand, as they bid for a first Scudetto since 2001.
Kalidou Koulibaly sent Napoli on their way in the fourth minute when he headed home Allan’s flick-on from a corner, and the away side looked out of sight with just 25 minutes gone when Piotr Zielinski collected Jorginho’s precise through ball and slotted Sol Bamba (2nd left) celebrates scoring against Hull City with his Cardiff City teammates SECOND-PLACED Cardiff City closed back to within four points of English Championship (second tier) leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers with a 1-0 home win over Hull City yesterday.
Sol Bamba’s 57th-minute goal ensured Cardiff maintained pressure on Wolves, who defeated Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 on Friday.
Bristol City remain third, eight points behind Wolves, after beating Nottingham Forest 2-1 at Ashton Gate thanks to first-half goals from Marlon Pack and Joe Bryan. Kieran Dowell pulled a goal back for Forest but they were unable to equalise.
Andreas Weimann scored against Napoli’s Marek Hamsik (centre) in action against Torino at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, Turin, Italy yesterday.
home their second.
Hamsik effectively ended the match as a contest with 30 minutes gone when he swept home Dries Merten’s pass first time past Salvatore Sirigu, scoring his first goal since the start of October and finally equalling Maradona’s record.
Torino striker Andrea Belotti pulled one back in the 63rd minute, ending an eightgame goal drought that stretched back nearly two months, but that was as good as it got for the hosts.
“My players knew what Inter had done and that can either help or hinder you,” said Napoli coach Sarri.
“They can give you the hunger to retake the top spot, but can also pile extra pressure on. Today the lads did well to make something positive from the result at the San Siro.”
Inter looked like they were set to maintain their unbeaten record and momentarily extend their lead at the top his old club as fourth-placed Derby County defeated fifth-placed Aston Villa 2-0 at Pride Park. Johnny Russell secured the win in second-half injury time.
Sixth-placed Sheffield United’s poor run continued with a 1-0 defeat to Preston North End at Deepdale, Jordan Hugill scoring the only goal.
Sheffield United have lost four of their past five matches and are now only one point ahead of seventh-placed Leeds United, who defeated Norwich City 1-0 at Elland Road courtesy of Pontus Jansson’s header.
Sunderland climbed out of the bottom three by beating mid-table
when Mauro Icardi levelled the scores with his 18th goal of the season, a smart volley just 71 seconds after Kevin Lasagna’s 14th-minute opener.
But despite dominating, the hosts could not find the breakthrough, and were punished just after the hour mark.
Inter defender Davide Santon compounded a poor display by handballing Silvan Widmer’s cross, and after referee Maurizio Mariani consulted the video assistant referee to check that the ball had not gone out before the Udinese rightback reached the ball, he awarded the penalty from which Rodrigo De Paul gave the away side the lead.
Inter continued to push and almost levelled in the 68th minute when Milan Skriniar thumped Antonio Candreva’s cross off the bar, but were punished when Antonin Barak finished a lightning break with 13 minutes left to sink the home side. – AFP Fulham 1-0 at the Stadium of Light. Eighteen-year-old Josh Maja scored on his league debut to give Chris Coleman’s side just their third league win of the season and first home victory since Dec. 17, 2016.
Bolton Wanders replaced Sunderland in the relegation zone after being beaten 1-0 at home by Burton Albion, who jumped from bottom to 22nd in the table thanks to Lloyd Dyer’s firsthalf winner.
Their victory saw Birmingham City drop to the bottom after a 2-1 defeat at home by Queens Park Rangers, Jack Robinson scoring either side of a Sam Gallagher equaliser. – Reuters