Napoli thrashed Juventus 5-1 in their Serie A fixture and are leading the title race in a comfortable position. The league leaders are 9 points above second placed Milan and 10 points above Juventus and Inter Milan. Victor Osimhen put up a show at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in front of the home crowd.
Serie A Matchday 18 : Napoli v Juventus
Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli faced Allegri’s Juventus in summit clash at Naples. Napoli started in a 4-3-3 formation and Juventus lined up with a 3-5-2 formation. Napoli started off the fixture with some tidy moves and were rewarded with an early goal. Osimhen scored the first goal at 14th minute from a rebound after Szczesny saved the initial effort of Kvaratskhelia. Di Maria tried to pull one back for the Bianconeri but the ball crashed in the crossbar. Just when the visitors were trying to get back into the game Napoli scored their second. Osimhen selflessly squares the ball to Kvaratskhelia for the second goal. Di Maria scored one for Juventus within two minutes to cut short the deficit to one goal. Meret with his quick reflex pulled off a save in the last few seconds of the first half.
Rrahmani scored the third goal for the hosts within ten minutes of the second half, restoring a two goal lead. Napoli were creating many chances and game started to open up. Osimhen scored his second goal of the night from Kvaratskhelia’s assist. Elif Elmas came off from the bench and scored Napoli’s 5th goal in the 72nd minute. Juventus had no answers to Spalleti’s Gli Azzurri as the hosts continued with their red hot form in the league. The scoreline read 5-1 at the end of full time whistle. Juventus came into the fixture with 8 straight clean sheets in Serie A. Napoli’s rampant form was too much to handle for Allegri’s men.
Serie A as it stands
AC Milan had dropped points in their league fixture and Inter Milan won their league fixture. The league standings had some movement at the top of the table with AC Milan placed at second place with 38 points, one more than Juventus at 3rd and Inter Milan at 4th spot. Napoli are leading the way with 47 points and are chasing the dream of winning the third Scudetto in their history. Their last league title victory dates back to 1989-90 under Maradona’s leadership.
