Napoli remained three points clear at the top of Serie A on Saturday after a hard-fought 1-0 win at Lecce while title rivals Inter Milan beat Verona by the same score ahead of their Champions League semi-final showdown with Barcelona. Antonio Conte’s team are one step closer to a second league title in three seasons thanks to Giacomo Raspadori’s well-struck free-kick in the 24th minute of a match which was briefly stopped by home fans’ fiery protest against the league following the death of a beloved club physio.
Napoli need seven points from their final three games of the season against Genoa, Parma and Cagliari to guarantee a fourth league crown after their fourth straight win without conceding a goal.
And that’s assuming reigning champions Inter win all three of their concluding league matches at Torino, against Lazio and at 10th-placed Como, who earlier secured a fifth consecutive win in Serie A for the first time in their history with a 1-0 success at Parma.
“I can’t deny that it was a big step (towards the title),” said Conte told DAZN.
“I was worried about this match against a tough team and in a particular atmosphere. I have a team which can find a way to win in all sorts of situations… but we can’t get complacent.”
Lecce meanwhile stay one place and point above the relegation zone and will drop into the bottom three if Empoli beat Lazio on Sunday.
Lecce anger
The match briefly looked like being called off early on when supporters launched a barrage of flares and firecrackers towards the pitch, forcing the match to be stopped for seven minutes.
Fans were protesting Serie A’s reaction to their long-time physio Graziano Fiorita dying suddenly last week at the age of 47.
Fiorita’s death hit Lecce hard and the club were enraged at the league deciding to only push back last weekend’s fixture at Atalanta by one day rather than to a later date to help grieving players and club staff.
Serie A’s anthem was booed and whistled by the crowd of 29,000, and after a tense minute’s silence for Fiorita fans loudly called the league “sons of bitches”.
Lecce were clearly fired up by the atmosphere and gave Napoli a game, even if they given a let-off in the second minute when Romelu Lukaku was found to be millimetres offside after turning home Matteo Politano’s shot.
But neither team had many chances beyond that, with Kialonda Gaspar heading off the bar in the 38th minute as Lecce pushed for a leveller and Raspadori flashing wide shortly before half-time.
Inter ease past Verona
Kristjan Asllani’s ninth-minute penalty ended up deciding Inter’s low-key win over Verona, who offered little even against a second-string line-up selected by Simone Inzaghi.
Inter give the impression of knowing that their Scudetto defence is likely to end in failure and Inzaghi made 10 changes from the team which drew 3-3 at Barca midweek, with the second leg of their last-four clash coming up on Tuesday.
And his gamble paid off with three points at a subdued San Siro and all of his key players, beyond already-injured captain Lautaro Martinez and France defender Benjamin Pavard, ready to face the Catalan giants.
Inzaghi’s assistant Massimiliano Farris hinted however that Martinez could yet be available to face Barca as his hamstring injury picked up in the thrilling first leg may not be as bad as feared.
“I wouldn’t say we are optimistic or not optimistic… we’ll have to see how our captain recovers,” said Farris who led Inter on Saturday with Inzaghi suspended.
On Thursday both Inzaghi and Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu plea-bargained one-match suspensions for having contact with Inter’s ultras, which is banned by the Italian FA.
That ruling came due to evidence uncovered from a wide-ranging criminal investigation into Inter and AC Milan ultras which led to 19 arrests in September.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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