MILAN: Napoli continued their Serie A title charge on Saturday by coming from behind to win a feverish contest with rivals Juventus 2-1 and go six points clear at the top of the table.
Antonio Conte’s side bounced back from Randal Kolo Muani’s strike moments from half-time in his Juve debut. Napoli won their seventh straight match thanks to a bullet header from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Romelu Lukaku’s 69th-minute penalty.
Napoli are hunting a second Scudetto in three seasons and Saturday’s win, and in particular their dominant performance in the second half, was another sign that they, and not Inter Milan, are the team to beat.
The roar that accompanied the hosts’ goals and the final whistle underlined the renewed belief that supporters have in their team after watching Napoli put up a dreadful defence of the title last season.
“We wanted to win, we did and we’re all very happy. There’s not much else to say,” said Anguissa to DAZN. “We know that we’re a good team but all we can do is take it one game at a time, with the self-confidence of knowing that we’re a team with character that’s difficult to beat.”
Juve, meanwhile, are 16 points behind Napoli in fifth after falling to their first league defeat of the season, not the position expected when Thiago Motta replaced Massimiliano Allegri as coach in the summer.
“I’m disappointed with the defeat because we played well in the first half, against a team which isn’t top by chance,” said Motta whose team have won once since the turn of the year.
Kolo Muani gave Juve a deserved half-time lead two days after finally completing his loan move from Paris Saint-Germain, where he had been frozen out by coach Luis Enrique.
He was in the right place at the right time in the 43rd minute to spin and lash home his third club goal of the season after Anguissa challenged for the ball and sent it straight to the France forward.
But Napoli were a different team after the break. After Michele Di Gregorio somehow kept out Lukaku’s close-range header the Juve goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Anguissa thumping home the leveller from Matteo Politano’s cross.
And there was only going to be one winner once Lukaku calmly rolled home his ninth Napoli goal from the spot after Scott McTominay was taken out by Manuel Locatelli.
Atalanta also stay seven points off the pace in third even though Mateo Retegui’s brace fired them to a 2-1 win at Como earlier on Saturday.
Retegui Double
Italy striker Retegui pounced in the 56th and 70th minutes at a soaking Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia to take his league tally to 16 goals and gave third-placed Atalanta their first win in Italy’s top flight in 2025.
The 25-year-old has scored five times in four games in all competitions since returning from a hamstring injury earlier this month, and his hot form is great news for Atalanta ahead of their trip to Barcelona.
Atalanta travel to Catalonia gunning for a place in the top eight of the Champions League and automatic qualification for the last 16, after thumping Sturm Graz on Tuesday.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side had to battle to victory at Como who deservedly led at the break through Nico Paz’s fantastic first-time strike but remain three points above the relegation zone in 13th place.
“It’s not easy to play so many matches so close together… we were slow in the first half but we were much better after half-time,” said Gasperini to DAZN.
Como will find it hard to pick up points between now and March. Their next five fixtures are against Bologna, Juventus, Fiorentina, Napoli and Roma.
The away side also had strikes from Ademola Lookman and Charles De Ketelaere ruled out for offside and handball, which made for a nervy final few minutes as Como pushed unsuccessfully for a leveller.
Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2025
