Juventus struck a major blow to Napoli’s Serie A title defence on Sunday, cruising to a 3-0 victory in Turin that left the reigning champions nine points adrift of leaders Inter Milan.
Goals from Jonathan David, Kenan Yildiz and Filip Kostic sealed a statement win for a rejuvenated Juve side under Luciano Spalletti, lifting them back into fifth place and firmly back into the race for the Champions League spots.
Juve are level on 42 points with fourth-placed Roma and could move into the top four should the capital club slip up against AC Milan in the evening kick-off. Napoli, meanwhile, hold only a slender one-point advantage over both Juve and Roma and are also being chased by sixth-placed Como, who sit two points further back after hammering Torino 6-0 on Saturday.
Roma will leapfrog Napoli into third if they avoid defeat against Milan, who themselves are aiming to reduce the six-point gap to city rivals Inter at the top.
Napoli now turn their focus to Wednesday’s crucial Champions League clash at home to Chelsea, a match that will determine whether Antonio Conte’s side progress in Europe. Conte continues to juggle an injury-hit squad, although there was a small positive amid a bleak night in Turin as Romelu Lukaku made his first appearance of the season off the bench.
Elsewhere, former Napoli forward Giacomo Raspadori marked his full debut for Atalanta with a goal as the Bergamo side thrashed Parma 4-0 to bounce back from a painful midweek defeat to Athletic Bilbao. Gianluca Scamacca, Marten de Roon and Nikola Krstovic were also on target in a dominant display from Raffaele Palladino’s team, who face high-flying Como next weekend.
Bologna’s hopes of closing the gap on Como faded after they squandered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at Genoa, who pulled six points clear of the relegation zone with a remarkable comeback.
Daniele De Rossi’s side trailed shortly after half-time following a Lewis Ferguson strike and Sebastian Otoa’s own goal, but the contest swung dramatically after Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski was sent off in calamitous fashion. Charging from his area to clear the ball, Skorupski missed it entirely and clattered into Vitinha, leaving Bologna a man down for more than half an hour.
Genoa capitalised in spectacular style, with Ruslan Malinovskiy smashing in a free-kick in the 62nd minute before Junior Messias sealed the turnaround deep into stoppage time with a curling long-range finish.
