Napoli’s Serie A title hopes in tatters after 3-0 defeat to Fiorentina
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Napoli’s dream of winning the Serie A title lies in tatters after they were humbled 3-0 by a Giovanni Simeone-inspired Fiorentina.
A famous victory at the leaders Juventus last weekend had closed the gap to a single point, but the Bianconeri won 3-2 at Internazionale in dramatic fashion on Saturday to pull clear once again.
Napoli could not keep step with their Scudetto rivals from Turin as, after Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off for fouling Simeone, the Argentinian scored a hat-trick to lift La Viola to a first win in four.
The son of the Atlético Madrid manager Diego drove Cristiano Biraghi’s through ball beyond Pepe Reina in the 34th minute and later doubled up when Milan Badelj’s headed attempt rebounded to his feet. Simeone compounded Napoli’s woe with a killer blow from a Federico Chiesa pass deep into second-half stoppage time.
SPAL pushed their relegation rivals Hellas Verona ever closer to relegation by winning 3-1 at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi. Verona’s Mattia Valoti turned in Bruno Petkovic’s splendid assist in the 13th minute but Mohamed Fares’ own goal deep into first-half stoppage time burst the Hellas bubble.
SPAL grew in confidence after the break, with Felipe firing them ahead with 71 minutes on the clock and Jasmin Kurtic rubbing salt in the wound at the end. With just three games remaining Verona are seven points from safety and next face a trip to Milan.
The Rossoneri were 2-1 winners on Sunday after they resisted a late Bologna rally while a video assistant referee call also went their way. Hakan Calhanoglu stuck Patrick Cutrone’s pass away early on at the Renato Dall’Ara but, before half-time, Riccardo Orsolini scored what he thought was a Bologna equaliser – the VAR would rule Rodrigo Palacio had handled the ball. Giacomo Bonaventura then doubled Milan’s lead heading into the interval before Sebastien De Maio halved the deficit with 16 minutes remaining.
In the early game, Marcello Trotta scored a brace against his parent club as Crotone edged towards safety with a thumping 4-1 victory over Sassuolo.
Bacary Sagna left it late to rescue a point for relegated Benevento from a 3-3 draw with Udinese. Elsewhere, Atalanta strengthened their claim on a Europa League spot by dispatching Genoa 3-1. Fabio Quagliarella scored but would later miss a penalty to forego his 20th goal of the season as Sampdoria downed struggling Cagliari 4-1 at the Marassi.
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