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Giovanni Simeone, right, leads the Napoli celebrations after scoring the winner against Roma. Ciro Fusco

Simeone fires Napoli 13 points clear, as five-star Sassuolo torpedo champions Milan

Napoli continue their pursuit of a first Serie A title since 1990 with a late 2-1 win over Roma.

GIOVANNI SIMEONE ENSURED Napoli continued their march towards their first Serie A title in over three decades with the decisive goal in a 2-1 win over Roma which pushed his team 13 points clear of the chasing pack.

Substitute Simeone rifled home a wonderful finish at the end of a long passing move with four minutes remaining to see off a spirited Roma team who thought they had escaped with a point when Stephan El Shaarawy levelled in the 75th minute.

Victor Osimhen was Napoli’s other scorer, almost bringing the house down in the 17th minute when he brilliantly chested down Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s cross, took another touch with his thigh before lashing in without the ball touching the floor.

His 14th league strike of the campaign was one of the goals of the season and was a blistering opener to an enthralling encounter which ended with Napoli taking yet another step towards glory.

Luciano Spalletti’s side are now 13 points clear of Inter Milan who are the closest challengers after champions AC Milan were humbled 5-2 by Sassuolo to leave their title defence in tatters.

At the San Siro, everything that could go wrong for troubled Milan did, with two goals ruled out for offside and a shocking defensive display condemning them to another heavy loss after also being hammered by Lazio and Inter Milan in the last 10 days.

Next up is the derby against second-placed Inter who thumped Milan 3-0 in the Super Cup less than a fortnight ago as Milan try to end an alarming slump which began with throwing away a two-goal lead in a draw with Roma three weeks ago.

Minnows Monza confirmed their meteoric rise from the lower leagues with a 2-0 win at Juventus, doing the double over the Turin giants and moving above them into 11th place.

First-half strikes from Patrick Ciurria and Juve old boy Dany Mota were enough for a historic win at the Allianz Stadium for Monza.

Juve — who were handed a 15-point penalty for illicit transfer activity earlier this month — are now languishing in 13th place and 14 points away from the European places.

Serie A results

  • AC Milan 2-5 Sassuolo
  • Juventus 0-2 Monza
  • Lazio 1-1 Fiorentina
  • Napoli 2-1 Roma

– © AFP 2023

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