Juventus on Sunday dealt a huge blow to SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense with a 3-0 win in Turin which left the reigning champions nine points behind league leaders Inter, who are pulling away from the chasing pack.
Jonathan David, Kenan Yildiz and Filip Kostic netted in Turin as Juve, a revitalized team under Luciano Spalletti, moved into fourth with a statement win.
Juve are fifth and one point behind both Napoli and AS Roma, who lifted themselves into third with a 1-1 draw with second-placed AC Milan in Rome.
Photo: AFP
“We played really well and had fun ... today we were great,” Yildiz told DAZN. “We had fun on the pitch and with our fans today, let’s hope we can keep going like this.”
Napoli, in fourth, are also looking over their shoulders at Como who are three points behind them in sixth following a six-goal hammering of Torino on Saturday.
Antonio Conte’s Napoli now turn their attentions to tomorrow’s visit of Chelsea, a huge match which would decide whether they stay in the UEFA Champions League.
Conte has had awful luck with injuries this season, and the only positive news from an awful evening for Napoli was the return of Romelu Lukaku, who played his first minutes of the season as a late substitute.
“I can’t criticize the lads, they gave everything,” Conte told Sky. “Sometimes you manage to overcome the hurdles, sometimes you don’t... We know what the situation is [with injuries], but you can’t cry about it, you’ve got to keep going.”
Belgium striker Lukaku was set to be introduced just as Yildiz effectively sealed the points in the 77nd minute, coolly rolling home Juve’s second after a Napoli defender sloppily gave the ball to Fabio Miretti.
That was the pivotal moment as Napoli were well in the game, even if they created next to nothing, after David netted the opener midway through the first half.
Jovic stuck the knife in with four minutes remaining, rifling home a powerful low finish, which gave the hosts a margin of victory that did not truly reflect the balance of play.
Napoli were overtaken on goal-difference by Roma, who claimed a draw thanks to Lorenzo Pellegrini’s penalty, which also gave Inter a five-point lead over city rivals Milan at the top of the league.
Roma looked set for another defeat in a big game in the 62nd minute when Koni de Winter headed home Luka Modric’s brilliant cross to give Milan the lead at the Stadio Olimpico.
The hosts had dominated the first half and were frustrated by Mike Maignan, who was again excellent in the AC Milan goal, so De Winter’s first Serie A goal felt like a sucker punch, but Pellegrini was ice cold from the penalty spot, after Davide Bartesaghi was penalized for handball, pushing his team into the top three after a first draw of the season.
“Had we scored first we’d have had a really good chance to win,” Roma head coach Gian Piero Gasperini said. “The table says that Milan are the second-best team in the country, and we come out of this game stronger than we were before it. To concede so little against a team as good as Milan is the result of a lot of application and hard work.”
Former Napoli man Giacomo Raspadori scored on his full debut for Atalanta BC as the Bergamo club thumped Parma 4-0 to bounce back from a painful midweek defeat to Athletic Bilbao.
Gianluca Scamacca, Marten de Roon and Nikola Krstovic scored the other goals in a comfortable victory for Raffaele Palladino’s team, who next weekend face high-flying Como.
Bologna are 10 points away from Como, who are in the UEFA Conference League spot, after throwing away a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at Genoa, who pulled six points clear of the relegation zone with a stunning comeback.
Elsewhere, US Sassuolo defeated US Cremonese 1-0.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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