ROME, March 4: Ten months and three coaches later, Napoli may have finally rediscovered the form that took it to the Serie A title.
The Partenopei followed up their 6-1 thrashing of Sassuolo with a 2-1 victory over visiting Juventus in the Italian league on Sunday.
Giacomo Raspadori scored the winner in the 88th minute at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona by redirecting in the rebound of a penalty kick from Victor Osimhen. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had put Napoli ahead with an expert volley late in the first half. Then Federico Chiesa equalized with an angled shot midway through the second half. Napoli is unbeaten since Francesco Calzona replaced Walter Mazzarri as coach less than two weeks ago. Mazzarri was hired 12 matches into the season to replace Rudi Garcia, who was chosen when Luciano Spalletti left after leading the southern club to its first Serie A title since Diego Maradona played for the club.
Napoli, which had been on course for one of the worst title defenses in league history, moved up to seventh place.Juventus remained second despite winning only one of its last six matches.The match pitted two teams fighting for a spot in the lucrative Club World Cup.
BOLOGNA’S BELIEF
Bologna’s unexpected chances of reaching the Champions League are growing match by match.
Thiago Motta’s team produced a 2-1 comeback win at Atalanta to strengthen its hold on fourth place and weaken the hopes of a direct rival for a spot in the top European club competition.
It was Bologna’s sixth straight win in Serie A — a feat it has managed only twice before, having won a club-record 10 consecutive games in 1963-64 and six straight also in 1967. (AP)
