Napoli beat Milan and strengthened their lead in the Serie A table

Latest update:October 30, 2024 07:54 IST

Napoli have 25 points and Inter Milan have 18 but have a chance to close the gap when they visit Empoli on Wednesday.

Napoli extended their lead at the top of the Serie A table to seven points after beating Milan 2-0 on Tuesday.

Antonio Conte’s resurgent team finished the match in the first half thanks to an early goal from Romelu Lukaku and a sensational strike from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Napoli have 25 points and Inter Milan have 18 but have a chance to close the gap when they visit Empoli on Wednesday.

Their third defeat of the campaign leaves Milan in eighth place, 11 points behind the leaders.

Belgian striker Lukaku scored his fourth goal of the season since joining the Italian 2023 champions in the summer to break the deadlock on five minutes.

He caught a pass from Frank Anguissa, held off a defender and coolly fired past Mike Maignan in the Milan goal.

Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret had to fight twice before the half-hour mark to maintain his team’s lead.

By the break, Georgian striker Kvaratskhelia doubled the visitors’ lead.

Picking up the ball on the left flank, he suddenly drove inside with his right foot past Youssouf Fofana and fired a long-range shot into the far post behind Maignan’s dive.

Alvaro Morata thought he had given Milan a lifeline two minutes after the break with a powerful header.

However, a VAR review showed he was offside in the build-up to goal and it was disallowed.

The hosts continued to look for a way to get back into the game, and only Meret’s excellent reflex save from Rafael Leao’s shot in the 83rd minute kept Napoli’s two-goal cushion intact.

Earlier, goals from Riccardo Orsolini and Jens Odgaard in both halves lifted Bologna into 10th place in the table with a 2-0 win over Cagliari.

Lecce lifted themselves off the table by beating nine-man Verona 1-0 thanks to Patrick Dorgu’s 51st-minute goal.

The visitors lost Jackson Chachua to a red card five minutes before the break, then in the final 10 minutes Reda Belahian was ordered to go forward for a second bookable offence.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news feed – AFP)