Juventus dealt a huge blow to Napoli’s Serie A title defence on Sunday with a 3-0 win in Turin which left the reigning champions nine points behind league leaders Inter Milan, who are pulling away from the chasing pack.
Jonathan David, Kenan Yildiz and Filip Kostic netted in Turin as Juve, a revitalised team under Luciano Spalletti, moved into fourth with a statement win.
Juve are fifth and one point behind both Napoli and Roma, who lifted themselves into third with a 1-1 draw with second-placed AC Milan in Rome.
“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 Wednesday’s visit of Chelsea, a huge match which will decide whether they stay in the Champions League.
Conte has had awful luck with injuries this term, 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 criticise 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 their local 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 Milan goal, so De Winter’s first Serie A goal felt like a sucker punch.
But Pellegrini was ice cold from the spot, after Davide Bartesaghi was penalised 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,” said Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
“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 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 Europa 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.
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