Dries Mertens on Sunday scored a brace as SSC Napoli reclaimed top spot in Serie A ahead of Juventus with a 3-1 win over Bologna as AC Milan rekindled their push for Europe with a 2-1 win over SS Lazio.
Napoli restored their one-point advantage over champions Juventus, who had moved top after Sami Khedira and Gonzalo Higuain scored in a 2-0 win at nine-man AC Chievo Verona on Saturday.
The championship battle looks increasingly like a two-horse race as behind the leaders Lazio — 10 points off Juventus in third — Inter and Roma all failed to win.
Photo: AP
“I think this battle with Napoli will last for the whole season,” Germany international Khedira said. “We worked hard during the break, the season is long and we’re still in the running in all competitions — we want to be there until the end in every one.”
In Naples, it proved to be a battle, with Rodrigo Palacio nodding Bologna ahead after 25 seconds, before an Ibrahima Mbaye own-goal four minutes later pulled the hosts back into the match.
Mertens edged Napoli ahead on 37 minutes with a penalty and the Belgian then claimed his 13th goal of the season with a spectacular curling effort on 59 minutes.
“The team showed character. It wasn’t easy to pick ourselves off the ground today,” Mertens said after scoring his third goal in a week.
Maurizio Sarri’s side have 57 points from 22 games, one more than Juventus. Lazio stay two points ahead of Inter in fourth after a frustrating 1-1 draw at promoted SPAL.
“We cannot compare ourselves to Juventus,” said Sarri, whose side are bidding to topple the six-time defending champions and claim their first scudetto since 1989-1990. “Juve have the potential to win every game they play. We must focus solely on ourselves.”
“I’m happy for Dries, because he went through a slight drop in form before the international break,” he added. “He just needed a short break to get back to his sparkling best.”
Roma remain fifth after Duvan Zapata scored 10 minutes from time to give UC Sampdoria all three points at the Stadio Olympico in the capital.
Alessandro Florenzi missed a penalty for Roma, who are now just four points ahead of Sampdoria.
Gennaro Gattuso’s AC Milan moved into seventh after claiming a third consecutive win for the first time this season.
“I don’t like this constant talk of every game being a turning point for Milan,” Gattuso said. “The club spent a lot of money to invest in this squad, there were some difficulties, but now we are in good shape psychologically.”
Patrick Cutrone opened for Milan after 15 minutes, nodding in a free-kick which looked as if it was deflected in off his arm, with Giacomo Bonaventura getting their second before halftime.
It was Lazio’s first defeat in nearly two months.
Earlier, Alberto Paloschi headed in a last-gasp equalizer to grab a precious point for SPAL after defender Francesco Vicari’s own-goal had given Inter the lead.
Spalletti introduced on-loan Barcelona midfielder Rafinha for the final minutes, but the Brazilian failed to lift his team against a SPAL side still in the relegation zone.
“When you concede a goal like that in stoppage-time, it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth,” Inter coach Luciano Spalletti said after his side, who had been unbeaten until Dec. 16 last year, notched a seventh consecutive game without a victory.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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