(Football news) Napoli beat Sassuolo 2-0 away and have moved 18 points clear at the top with a seventh straight Serie A win thanks to first-half goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen on Friday. Napoli are on 62 points from 23 games ahead of second-placed Inter Milan, who will take on mid-table Udinese on Saturday, as they are moving closer to ending a 33-year wait for the league title.
Kvaratskhelia continued his meteoric rise this season by opening the scoring in the 12th minute after he took possession in midfield and fired the ball into the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the box. Sassuolo thought they cut short the deficit just before the end of the first half but Lauriente’s goal was ruled out by VAR for an offside.The 22-year-old Georgian, who is nicknamed as Kvaradona in Naples as he continues to impress this season with 10 goals and nine assists in Serie A. He is also now fourth in the scoring charts and has the most assists in the league.
Sassuolo’s Armand Lauriente had another chance to equalise two minutes later but his shot from inside the penalty box hit the goal post. Osimhen then continued his rich goal scoring form by doubling Napoli’s lead after 33 minutes when the Nigerian beat Sassuolo keeper Andrea Consigli from an acute angle, taking the Serie A top scorer to 18 goals in Serie A this season. Giovanni Simeone headed home for Napoli late in the game but his celebrations were cut short after being ruled offside by VAR. Sassuolo remained in 15th place with 24 points.
“We won the last few games (before Friday’s win), but there was less quality,” Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti told DAZN. “Tonight, on the other hand, in possession, in phase management, in being a team in all things, I felt we were superior to the last games and I can classify that as a great performance.”
“In my opinion we suffered a couple of times because Sassuolo are well coached and play good football, so you can’t have 90 minutes of supremacy and sometimes you have to suffer,” added Spalletti. “We are living a good moment, but nobody has the presumption to go softer and these are important signals for the future.”
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