NAPLES: A second-half goal from Giovanni Di Lorenzo was enough to earn Napoli a 1-0 win over struggling Lecce on Saturday, and the home side extended their unbeaten run to eight games to stretch their lead in the Serie A standings.

Napoli move on to 22 points, five ahead of defending champions Inter Milan, who take on third-placed Juventus in Derby d’Italia.

Di Lorenzo, who had a goal disallowed in the first half, bundled the ball into the net in the 73rd minute after his initial effort had been saved, and it proved enough to take all three points at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

“It was a really important match for us, we tried in every way possible to score and in the end we managed to do it,” said Di Lorenzo to DAZN.

Lecce, despite their lowly position and dismal run of results, were far from outplayed by the league leaders but fell to their fourth successive defeat and they remain second from bottom in the standings with five points.

The visitors came into the game on the back of a 6-0 loss to Fiorentina last weekend and with just one win under their belts this season, but they stifled a Napoli side who struggled to create many clear-cut chances.

“I don’t like to lose, even with our heads held high,” said Lecce coach Luca Gotti. “But I’ll take the attitude of our players today, let’s hope we can take it into the coming matches.”

Meanwhile, Atalanta celebrated Gian Piero Gasp­erini’s 400th match as coach by destroying Hellas Verona 6-1 with a stunning display in which they raced into a five-goal lead in just over half an hour.

Marten de Roon, Charles De Ketelaere and doubles from Serie A top scorer Mateo Retegui and Ademola Lookman fired Atalanta up to fourth and made up for Wednesday’s frustrating goalless draw with Celtic in the Champions League.

AC Milan’s match at Bologna was postponed due to torrential rain and flooding.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2024