ROME: Joaquin Correa scored twice as Lazio beat AC Milan 3-0 in Serie A on Monday to boost their chances of qualifying for the Champions League while Napoli jumped up to third thanks to a 2-0 triumph at Torino.

Correa opened the scoring for Lazio with only a minute on the clock at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and added the second in the 51st. Ciro Immobile struck the third with three minutes left as Lazio moved five points off the Champions League spots with a game in hand on their rivals.

“The lads were really great, it was a final for us, Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia. “It was our last hope to stay in touch with the top four. We usually play finals in this way, it was a clear and overwhelming victory.”

Inzaghi’s side sit sixth, behind AC Milan who are level on 66 points with Napoli and Juventus — third and fourth respectively — but have dropped down to fifth after their second straight league defeat. Second-placed Atalanta have two points more.

Head-to-head record is the first deciding factor in Serie A, followed by goal difference.

“I expected more from my team,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. “We have the technical and physical quality to do better. We must do more, now we must show that we are as strong as I think we are. We need to react immediately because this is a heavy defeat. The Champions League race has become a lot more difficult.”

Milan are 13 points behind leaders Inter Milan, who can win their first league title since 2010 on Saturday if they beat Crotone and second-placed Atalanta fail to win at Sassuolo on Sunday.

Milan were looking to move back into second place but were without top-scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic and got off to the worst possible start when Correa played a quick one-two with Immobile, rounded Gianluigi Donnarumma and deposited into the empty net.

It was Lazio’s quickest goal in Serie A since statistics supplier Opta started collecting that data in 2004.

Correa almost doubled his tally immediately but Donnarumma pulled off a fantastic save to deny him at point-blank range.

Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina also performed in the first half and his side doubled its lead six minutes after the break when Correa burst into the area, rode an attempt at a tackle from Milan defender Fikayo Tomori and blasted into the roof of the net.

Immobile scored when Manuel Lazzari rolled the ball across to him and he drilled it into the bottom left corner.

Milan could have been beaten by a larger margin as Lazzari was denied a goal just before the break by the tightest of VAR offside calls and Italy forward Immobile struck the post seven minutes before he scored his 18th league goal of the campaign.

Pioli was however left frustrated by Correa’s second, which was given after a lengthy VAR check following what he felt was a foul from Lucas Leiva on Hakan Calhanoglu.

“I don’t understand how it wasn’t given as a foul on Calhanoglu,” said Pioli. “He looked at it again and from the replay you cannot say Leiva doesn’t catch Calhanoglu and completely miss the ball.”

Napoli moved back into the Champions League places in Serie A and could have scored more in a dominant victory.

Two goals in as many minutes from Tiemoue Bakayoko and Victor Osimhen had Napoli firmly in control by halftime. They could have been further ahead at the break following a dominant opening period in which Piotr Zielinski hit the post and Matteo Politano was unlucky to see his deflected shot slide wide.

Lorenzo Insigne, playing his 300th Serie A match for Napoli, also hit the upright with a curling shot just before the hour mark. They failed to add to their tally but ran out winners to put pressure on their rivals.

Torino meanwhile are staring at the prospect of relegation following the defeat, which leaves them hovering above the drop zone. They sit 16th, level on 31 points with Benevento, who occupy the final relegation spot, and 17th-placed Cagliari.

Napoli got off to a great start when Bakayoko curled a stunning strike into the far bottom corner from 20 yards out.

The lead was doubled following a rapid counterattack. Osimhen sprinted from just inside his own half and his effort was deflected past Torino goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu.

Torino midfielder Rolando Mandragora was sent off four minutes from time for a second yellow card.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2021