(Football news) A goal from Matias Vecino earned Lazio a surprising 1-0 win over Napoli in Serie A on Friday, ending the Naples outfits winning streak of eight games. Lazio have made it three league wins in a row for the first time since October and have moved two places up to second in the standings with 48 points which is subsequently one place above third-placed Inter Milan and AC Milan in fourth who both have a game in hand.
Napoli are still on top of the standings with 65 points and have suffered only their second league defeat this season after they had lost to Inter in January. Lazio started the match on the front foot as they should have taken the lead as early as the fifth minute, but Vecino’s close-range header was cleared off the line by Giovanni Di Lorenzo. While Napoli had more possession in the first half as Vecino’s chance was the closest either came in the half.
Piotr Zielinski could have put the hosts in front, when he received a pass from Victor Osimhen but his low shot narrowly missed the target but Lazio eventually took the lead and sealed the win for them in the 67th minute when Vecino, picked up a ball which was cleared by Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and sent a brilliant first-time shot from a distance which went of the left post. Napoli pushed for an equaliser but despite many late chances as Osimhen’s header hit the woodwork.
Napoli were unbeaten in their seven Serie A home games against Lazio as their last defeat dates back to May 2015, under Rafael Benitez. Napoli will host sixth-placed Atalanta on March 11 before facing Eintracht Frankfurt in their Champions League round of 16 second leg on March 15 as they approach with a two-goal advantage from the first game. Lazio play against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League on Tuesday before they travel to Bologna.
“We had to convince the boys that they could come here and get a result, and that’s a lot,” Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri told a news conference. “If you read Napoli’s numbers at home, it becomes difficult to think you can win. This Napoli team is going to win [the title] and I envy it to death. [Coach Luciano] Spalletti has been phenomenal.”
“The draw was the correct and fairest thing. It happened to us several times that we didn’t settle for a draw and we won, tonight went badly and we accepted it,” Spalletti said.
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