As in the best hours of its splendid 2022-23 season, Naples chained a third consecutive victory, in Cagliari (4-0), and seized first place in the Italian Championship after a new misstep by Inter Milan, neutralized by Monza (1-1), Sunday.
With three wins in four games and an unexpected leadership status, Antonio Conte has already achieved what none of the three coaches, including the Frenchman Rudi Garcia, who succeeded one another last season on the Napoli bench managed to do.
His team, largely revamped in the off-season with more than 150 million euros spent, outclassed Cagliari at the end of a high-tension match, with firecrackers and smoke bombs thrown between supporters, forcing the referee to interrupt the match for seven minutes at the end of the first half.
The Neapolitans opened the scoring thanks to a shot from their captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo (18th), deflected into his own goal by a Sardinian defender.
They knocked out their opponents in the second half thanks to their Georgian playmaker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (66th) and their Belgian star recruit Romelu Lukaku (70th), who provided the assist for the first two goals and perfectly exploited a poor clearance from the opposition.
In added time, another summer signing, Alessandro Buongiorno, added a fourth goal with a header (90+3′).
“It’s too early to say if we can take part in the race for the Scudetto, there are still things to improve but we are already in a very good position,” Lukaku stressed.
– Atalanta breathes –
“We have worked hard for two and a half months, we must continue like this, without looking at what others are doing,” added Conte.
For the first time since May 2023, Napoli sit at the top of Serie A with nine points, one more than Inter.
The reigning Italian champions could have regained first place in the evening, but they were surprised by Monza who took the lead in the 81st minute with a superb header from Dani Mota.
Denzel Dumfries equalised in the 88th minute to earn a point for the Nerazzurri who have failed to impress ahead of their Champions League clash with Manchester City on Wednesday and a return to arch-rivals AC Milan on Sunday.
Simone Inzaghi’s men are second with eight points, like Juventus Turin, held to a draw the day before at Empoli (0-0), and Torino, still unbeaten this season but held at home by Lecce (0-0).
“We created chances, but without managing to take the upper hand, we were less quick and less efficient than normal,” regretted the Italian coach.
Atalanta Bergamo moved up to 8th place (6 pts) by beating Fiorentina 3-2 with five goals scored during a crazy first half.
The “Dea”, winner of the 2024 Europa League, made the difference just before the break thanks to their Nigerian striker Ademola Lookman, author of a spectacular slalom in the Fiorentina defense.
Atalanta will return to the Champions League after two seasons of absence on Thursday when they host Arsenal, second in the Premier League after their victory away to Tottenham (1-0) on Sunday.
jr/dent
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