MILAN: Napoli continued their Serie A title charge on Saturday by coming from behind to win a feverish contest with rivals Juventus 2-1 and go six points clear at the top of the pile.
Antonio Conte’s side bounced back from Randal Kolo Muani’s strike moments from half-time in his Juve debut. Napoli won their seventh straight match thanks to a bullet header from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Romelu Lukaku’s 69th-minute penalty.
Napoli are hunting a second Scudetto in three seasons and Saturday’s win, and in particular their dominant performance in the second half, was another sign that they, and not Inter Milan, are the team to beat.
Six points from clashes with Atalanta and Juve in successive weeks have kept Inter at bay with the reigning champions at lowly Lecce on Sunday hoping to halve the gap that separates Simone Inzaghi’s team from Napoli.
The roar that accompanied the hosts’ goals and the final whistle underlined the renewed belief that supporters have in their team after watching Napoli put up a dreadful defense of the Scudetto title last season.
Juve, meanwhile, are 16 points behind Napoli in fifth after falling to their first league defeat of the season, not the position expected when Thiago Motta replaced Massimiliano Allegri as coach in the summer.
Kolo Muani gave Juve a deserved half-time lead two days after finally completing his loan move to Turin from Paris Saint-Germain, where he had been frozen out by coach Luis Enrique.
He was in the right place at the right time in the 43rd minute to spin and lash home his third club goal of the season after Anguissa challenged for the ball and sent it straight to the France forward.
But Napoli were a different team after the break. After Alex Meret somehow kept out Lukaku’s close-range header the Juve goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Anguissa thumping home the leveller from Matteo Politano’s cross.
And there was only going to be one winner once Lukaku calmly rolled home his ninth Napoli goal from the spot after Scott McTominay was taken out by Manuel Locatelli.
Atalanta also stay seven points off the pace in third even though Mateo Retegui’s brace fired them to a 2-1 win at Como earlier on Saturday.
Italy striker Retegui pounced in the 56th and 70th minutes at a soaking Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia to take his league tally to 16 goals and give third-placed Atalanta their first win in Italy’s top flight in 2025.
The 25-year-old has scored five times in four games in all competitions since returning from a hamstring injury earlier this month, and his hot form is great news for Atalanta ahead of their trip to Barcelona.
Atalanta travel to Catalonia gunning for a place in the top eight of the Champions League and automatic qualification for the last 16, after thumping Sturm Graz on Tuesday.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side had to battle to victory at Como who deservedly led at the break through Nico Paz’s fantastic first-time strike but remain three points above the relegation zone in 13th place.
“It’s not easy to play so many matches so close together... we were slow in the first half but we were much better after half-time,” said Gasperini to DAZN.
Como will find it hard to pick up points between now and March. Their next five fixtures are against Bologna, Juventus, Fiorentina, Napoli and Roma.
“You need to remember that we’re Como, we’re a newly-promoted team but we’re giving a lot of big teams hard games,” said coach Cesc Fabregas.
The away side also had strikes from Ademola Lookman and Charles De Ketelaere ruled out for offside and handball, which made for a nervy final few minutes as Como pushed unsuccessfully for a leveller.
Napoli beat Juventus to continue Serie A title charge
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Napoli beat Juventus to continue Serie A title charge
- Antonio Conte’s side bounced back from Randal Kolo Muani’s strike moments from half-time in his Juve debut
- Napoli won their seventh straight match thanks to a bullet header from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Romelu Lukaku’s 69th-minute penalty
Gulf Giants start DP World ILT20 Season 4 with 6-wicket victory over MI Emirates
- Nissanka’s 81 and Omarzai’s all-round display trump Pollard’s half-century
DUBAI: The Gulf Giants began their DP World ILT20 Season 4 campaign with a clinical six-wicket victory against the MI Emirates on Thursday.
A swashbuckling knock of 81 runs in 42 balls from Pathum Nissanka and an all-round performance from Azmatullah Omarzai proved decisive for the Giants, who broke a six-match losing streak at the Dubai International Stadium
Apart from a 78-run partnership between Nicholas Pooran (46 off 39) and half-centurion Kieron Pollard (50 off 33), the Giants were potent with the ball. Omarzai and Nuwan Thushara led with two-wicket hauls each while, in contrast, four out of five bowlers for the MI Emirates conceded at more than 10 runs an over.
In the second innings, Chris Woakes gave the Giants an early jolt with the wickets of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (6 off 3) and Gerhard Erasmus (1 off 5). Pathum Nissanka and Moeen Ali (26 off 21) steadied the ship, taking the Giants to 67 until Moeen Ali was run out.
Opening the innings, Nissanka scored briskly after a watchful start. He crossed the 50-run mark in 30 balls on the back of three fours and two sixes.
Soon after, Omarzai (39* off 16) tore into Rashid Khan, hammering a four and three sixes in a devastating 23-run over that seized control for the Giants. Nissanka extended the damage with three boundaries and a six off Chris Woakes before his dismissal in the 15th over.
Omarzai remained unbeaten as the Giants reached their target in 14.4 overs.
Asked to bat first, MI Emirates limped to 36/3 inside the powerplay courtesy of the Giants’ pace attack. Nuwan Thushara snapped up Mohammed Waseem (1 off 2) and Jonny Bairstow (11 off 13) with both batters caught and bowled. Meanwhile, Azmatullah Omarzai cleaned up Tom Banton (6 off 8) in the third over.
Runs were hard to come by as Nicholas Pooran and Tajinder Singh (15 off 19) looked to rebuild. The pair put up a stand of 27 runs before Moeen Ali outfoxed Tajinder to leave the MI Emirates at 58/4 in 10 overs.
The innings needed impetus, and Pollard provided it in the 13th over, launching three consecutive sixes off Tabraiz Shamsi. Pooran joined the assault with a 14-run plunder off Haider Razzaq, as the duo raced to a 50-run partnership in just 36 balls. In a bid to hit his third six of the night, Pooran fell to Razzaq in the 18th over to make it 141/5.
Kieron Pollard was dismissed in the final over by Omarzai. But Romario Shepherd (18* off 6) and Rashid Khan (6* off 1) did well to help the MI Emirates post 163/6.
On the Gulf Giants’ victory, stand-in captain, Moeen Ali said: “It’s a great performance. The toss was huge. We bowled very well in the first 10 overs. They have three players who can take it away, and we held them back nicely, and then Nissanka and Omarzai were incredible. Nissanka is a brilliant player. He is one of the best in the world. He is very calm, doesn’t say much, but packs a punch. Omarzai gave us the momentum to finish the game by taking on Rashid Khan.”
MI Emirates captain Kieron Pollard said: “Losing three wickets in the powerplay, and having to rebuild, we were short in the first innings. The ball was moving around quite a bit in the first 10 overs, and we couldn’t finish it off as well as we wanted. We just need to be better in terms of execution.”
