SSC Napoli bounced back from a week of turmoil to beat 10-man Hellas Verona 3-0 on Sunday in Serie A to restore some much-needed confidence to the team.
A shock 3-1 defeat at Udinese the previous weekend saw Napoli fall six points behind league leaders Juventus and left them without coach Maurizio Sarri and star striker Gonzalo Higuain for the match against Verona as the pair sat out bans.
Sarri returns to the bench next week, while Higuain is awaiting the outcome of an appeal against his four-match ban.
Photo: Reuters
Napoli canceled Sarri’s pre-match press conference on Saturday and continued their media blackout to avoid creating more controversy ahead of the appeal hearing.
Higuain’s replacement, Manolo Gabbiadini, opened the scoring and Lorenzo Insigne doubled Napoli’s lead from the penalty spot after Samuel Souprayen was sent off in first-half stoppage-time.
Both also hit the post early on.
Jose Callejon sealed the win for Napoli.
It had also been a difficult week for SS Lazio, who fired coach Stefano Pioli after a 4-1 derby defeat against AS Roma and replaced him with youth team coach Simone Inzaghi.
Miroslav Klose scored twice in a 3-0 win at relegation-threatened US Citta di Palermo, with the match halted in each half after Palermo fans threw fireworks from the stands.
The match was suspended for slightly longer in the second half — for nearly five minutes — after one of the fireworks exploded seconds after Lazio midfielder Antonio Candreva ran past it.
Palermo fans also threw seats onto the pitch before the situation improved. There had been trouble between both sets of fans earlier in the day in Sicily.
Earlier, ACF Fiorentina lost 2-0 at Empoli to damage their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. They are seven points behind third-placed Roma, which were due to host Bologna yesterday.
Reports have linked Fiorentina coach Paolo Sousa with Zenit St Petersburg and the Russian club’s sporting director was in the stands.
“It’s normal, there are always sporting directors at the stadium, but the rumors of the past few days haven’t distracted us,” Sousa said. “I’m more concerned about the results, the club has told me they want to continue with me. Now we want to return to winning ways like we did in the first half of the season.”
Elsewhere on Sunday, Udinese lost 2-0 at UC Sampdoria, while Torino beat Atalanta BC 2-1.
Verona goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini denied Gabbiadini twice with good saves and Callejon also had a goal ruled out for offside shortly before the half-hour mark.
Gabbiadini finally beat Gollini in the 33rd minute, heading in the rebound after the Verona goalkeeper parried Callejon’s strike from a delightful pass from Marek Hamsik.
Napoli doubled their tally with almost the last kick of the half after Callejon was brought down when he was through on goal by Souprayen. Gollini guessed right, but could not prevent Insigne’s penalty from going in.
Callejon scored Napoli’s third in the 70th minute, tapping in from close range.
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