Dusan Vlahovic on Sunday made sure that Juventus stayed two points behind Serie A leaders Inter with the decisive late goal in a 2-1 win at 10-man US Salernitana 1919, as troubled SSC Napoli crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Torino.
Serbia striker Vlahovic thumped home a perfect header in the first minute of stoppage-time to snatch the points for Juve, completing a fine comeback from a goal down at the Stadio Arechi.
“We gave everything tonight and we deserved to win. We never give up, we give everything right to the end,” Vlahovic told DAZN. “Our aim is to get back into the Champions League, after that we’ll take each game as it comes and see where we end up.”
Photo: Reuters
The 23-year-old’s seventh goal of the season came at the end of a battle in soaking Salerno, where the hosts fought bravely even after losing goalscorer Giulio Maggiore to a second booking in the 53rd minute.
Maggiore had shot Salernitana ahead six minutes before halftime, but substitute Samuel Iling-Junior put the away side level with a powerful close-range finish in the 65th minute, setting up a blockbuster finale.
Vlahovic made sure that Juventus kept pace with Inter, who were controversial winners over Hellas Verona on Saturday and have a much tougher run of fixtures over the next month.
Salernitana, who were hammered 6-1 by Juve in the Coppa Italia last week, stay bottom of the division after an unfortunate defeat, their fifth in seven matches.
Furious Napoli supporters launched flares onto the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino during the latest embarrassing loss which left them languishing in ninth place and came via goals from Antonio Sanabria, Nikola Vlasic and Alessandro Buongiorno.
Last season’s historic scudetto has now been forgotten as Napoli sink further into the abyss with each passing week, their third defeat in four matches in all competitions fully deserved after a shambolic display in Turin.
Without Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, Walter Mazzarri’s side failed to score for the fourth straight match and are completely unrecognizable from the team which charged to title glory last season.
“We have to apologize to the fans for the performance ... we’re trying to find ways to stimulate the team and get back to some sort of normality,” Napoli sporting director Mauro Meluso said.
Meluso spoke to DAZN after a series of post-match summits with Mazzarri and the team, and said that the coach — who was suspended for Sunday’s match — would not be sacked.
“I, the club and the team have total faith in the coach, so we’re not having thoughts in that direction,” Meluso said.
Mazzarri was brought in to clean up the mess left by predecessor Rudi Garcia, but Napoli are now a full 20 points behind league leaders Inter and closer to the relegation zone than the top of the table.
A sumptuous early strike from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Olivier Giroud’s 31st-minute penalty set third-placed AC Milan on the way to a 3-0 win at Empoli, which was sealed by Chaka Traore with two minutes remaining.
Missing a host of players to injury and the Africa Cup of Nations, Milan took advantage of their closest rivals for the top four dropping points.
Stefano Pioli’s team are six points ahead of fourth-placed ACF Fiorentina, who lost 1-0 at US Sassuolo on Saturday, and a further point in front of Bologna in fifth following their draw at Genoa.
Milan have had a bumpy campaign riddled with injuries and questions over Pioli’s future, but Sunday’s win was their fifth in six matches in all competitions.
“It’s in the difficult moments that you learn if people have given up on you, and that wasn’t the case here,” Pioli said. “When things don’t go well we stay together and we give each other a hand.”
SS Lazio warmed up for their derby with Roma in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals by winning 2-1 at Udinese.
Maurizio Sarri’s side are seventh, one point ahead of AS Roma, who were held to a 1-1 home draw by sixth-placed Atalanta BC.
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