SSC Napoli and Juventus both recorded narrow victories against relegation-threatened sides to remain first and second in Serie A on Sunday ahead of their showdown in Turin next weekend.
Second-place Juventus, who beat Frosinone 2-0, appeared to be on the verge of moving level at the top when Juan Cuadrado broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute with the score still goalless in the match between Napoli and Carpi.
Gonzalo Higuain then converted a penalty against 10-man Carpi moments later for his 24th goal in 24 league matches this season as Napoli went on to win 1-0.
Photo: AP
“It’s a source of pride for us to be above Juve and we’re happy to be able to play this kind of battle,” Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri said. “If we draw at the end of a difficult game, OK, but I would not sign beforehand for it. I want to go there to play. They will be stronger than us, but we have to have the chutzpah to go to Turin and play football.”
There was a touching moment before the match as Napoli fans held up prints of Kalidou Koulibaly’s face in a show of support after the team’s defender was racially abused by SS Lazio fans last week.
Napoli remained two points ahead of Juventus, with Inter missing the chance to move third after a 3-3 draw at Hellas Verona.
“The lads were great and now we have a week to prepare for the match against Napoli, but then there will still be another 13 matches left, the season is long. It will be a really lovely battle, a direct clash, but it will not decide the title,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said.
AS Roma narrowed the gap to the final UEFA Champions League spot with a 2-1 win against UC Sampdoria, moving a point behind Inter and two below Fiorentina.
Samp almost snatched a last-minute point when Mattia Cassani hit the crossbar in stoppage-time.
Elsewhere, AC Milan failed to make it three in a row as they were held 1-1 by Udinese, US Sassuolo drew 2-2 against 10-man US Citta di Palermo and AC Chievo Verona won 2-1 at Torino. Atalanta BC were held to a goalless draw by Empoli.
After matching their club record of seven consecutive victories against Lazio, Napoli were looking to make history against Carpi.
Napoli could have had a penalty in the first half for a clear tug on Jose Callejon’s shirt by Stefano Sabelli.
Callejon was further upset early in the second half when he had the ball in the net, but it was ruled out for offside.
It was Carpi’s turn to feel aggrieved in the 56th minute when Paolo Bianco was sent off for a second yellow card when it appeared to be more Cristian Zaccardo’s foul than his on Lorenzo Insigne.
Zaccardo appeared to be telling the referee this as he and his teammates surrounded the official, but Bianco was dismissed.
However, the referee got it right when he awarded Napoli a penalty after Fabio Daprela hauled down Koulibaly. Higuain fired confidently into the bottom-left corner, scoring for the sixth successive league match.
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