MILAN: Despite mounting injury problems, Napoli moved clear at the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win at Lecce on Tuesday.
Kevin De Bruyne was the latest player sidelined and the talismanic midfielder will most likely not return until February after a serious thigh injury in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Inter Milan.
Frank Anguissa scored the only goal of the match at Lecce after Napoli goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had saved a penalty from teenager Francesco Camarda.
Defending champion Napoli moved three points clear of Roma, which host Parma on Wednesday. AC Milan can close the gap back to one point if they win at Atalanta later.
Lecce were two points above the relegation zone.
Napoli struggled to break Lecce down and the home side had a great opportunity to take the lead when they were awarded a penalty early in the second half following a lengthy video review as Juan Jesus was adjudged to have touched Kialonda Gaspar’s header with his hand.
Milinkovic-Savic is known as somewhat of a penalty specialist and he lived up to his reputation by denying Camarda. The Serbian has saved five of the last nine spotkicks he has faced.
The 17-year-old Camarda, who is on loan from Milan, looked distraught and was seen in tears on the bench after being substituted in the 70th minute.
That was moments after Napoli had taken the lead as Anguissa met David Neres’ pinpoint free kick with a glancing header into the top far corner.
Serie A leader Napoli beat Lecce 1-0, Camarda in tears after missed penalty
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Serie A leader Napoli beat Lecce 1-0, Camarda in tears after missed penalty
- Frank Anguissa scored the only goal of the match at Lecce after Napoli goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had saved a penalty from teenager Francesco Camarda
- Lecce were two points above the relegation zone
Liverpool’s Slot says football must do more after Vinicius racism allegation
- The Dutchman said Jeremie Frimpong is still out this weekend but fellow defender Joe Gomez is ready to start if needed
Liverpool manager Arne Slot says more needs to be done to avoid racism in football following allegations by Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr that he was subjected to racist abuse from Benfica’s Argentine winger Gianluca Prestianni.
Real’s 1-0 Champions League playoff first-leg win at Benfica on Tuesday was overshadowed by Vinicius accusing Prestianni of directing a racist slur at him, a charge denied by the Portuguese club, the player and their manager Jose Mourinho.
European soccer’s governing body UEFA said it was reviewing the incident, which led to the game being halted for 11 minutes under FIFA’s anti-racism protocol.
“In general you can never do enough, you can always do more to make sure this (racism in football) never happens again,” Slot told reporters ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League visit to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
“We have to try as a football community to do more than society does. That’s maybe not so difficult, by the way. Protocol was followed in the game, that’s the first step,” he said on Thursday.
“I would hope my players would act in a similar way — immediately address it, and the referee acts in a similar way.”
Regarding the Forest game, Slot expects a different set-up under the Midlands club’s new manager Vitor Pereira compared to the meeting in November when Liverpool lost 3-0 at Anfield.
Former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Pereira was appointed last Sunday to replace the sacked Sean Dyche.
“We only have tonight (Thursday) to see if this new manager changes personnel,” Slot said, referring to Forest’s first game under Pereira at Fenerbahce in a Europa League playoff tie.
“The good thing is they have that game, and the manager was in the Premier League last season.”
The Dutchman said Jeremie Frimpong is still out this weekend but fellow defender Joe Gomez is ready to start if needed.
Slot said his side have improved over the past few months, with Liverpool sixth in the table on 42 points from 26 games.
“We have improved compared to three, four months ago. We are in a much better place than months ago,” the 47-year-old added.
“There are more reasons, but the most simple two are how fit we are and that we’re much better at set-pieces at the moment.”
Forest are languishing in 17th spot, one place and three points above West Ham United in the relegation zone.
