Napoli sees off Verona to move 4 points clear

Napoli extended its lead at the top of Serie A to four points on Sunday after beating lowly Verona 2-0 as champion Inter Milan moved second with a 1-0 success at Venezia.

An early own goal from Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa's second-half rocket ensured that Napoli took advantage of Atalanta being held to a goalless draw at Udinese on Saturday and strengthened its bid for a second league title in three seasons.

Napoli's lead isn't as imposing as it looks, however, as Inter has two games in hand, the first of which is against Bologna at the San Siro on Wednesday.

Atalanta, who is a further point back in third, also has an extra fixture to play due to its participation in the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia and hosts Juventus on Tuesday before Napoli travels to Bergamo for a huge clash this weekend.

Unfortunate Montipo could do nothing about giving Napoli the lead in the fifth minute as Giovanni Di Lorenzo's shot crashed out off the post, hit his back and then crept over the line.

It was partly down to Montipo that Napoli didn't win by more, as the 28-year-old made a couple of fine stops on Scott McTominay and David Neres in an attacking barrage from the host at the start of the second half, while defender Amir Rrahmani also had a header cleared off the line.

Napoli is a different team to the one hammered 3-0 by Verona on the opening day of the season, even without star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who has asked the club to be sold amid reports of an 80-million-euro ($82 million) transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

Neres is usually Matteo Politano's replacement on the right wing but proved to be a decent substitute for the Georgian on the other flank, helping Napoli stay on the front foot and ahead of the chasing pack.

Inter on a roll

Matteo Darmian shot injury-hit Inter to victory on the Venetian Lagoon with the only goal of the game in the 16th minute.

Italy defender Darmian tapped home his second goal of the season on the rebound after Lautaro Martinez's shot was kept out by Venezia goalkeeper and Inter loanee Filip Stankovic.

"We work on getting up the pitch and it doesn't matter who gets there. I found myself in front of goal and thankfully I managed to score and help the team win," said Darmian.

Inter has had problems closing out matches this season and Sunday's narrow win, its sixth on the bounce in Serie A, came after Simone Inzaghi's side threw away a two-goal lead in the Italian Super Cup final against AC Milan.

The away side dominated and should have won by more despite having Italy defender Francesco Acerbi and key midfielders Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan out injured, with Marcus Thuram, Benjamin Pavard and Federico Dimarco all starting on the bench.

But Stankovic, the son of Inter legend Dejan, was excellent between the sticks and his brilliant save from Davide Frattesi in the 67th minute almost paid off moments later when the post denied US midfielder Gianluca Busio and allowed Inter to escape with all three points.

"It wasn't easy after losing the final the way we did, but the boys were brilliant because we came here tired with a host of players out and we played really well," said Inzaghi.

AFP