In the absence of Atalanta Bergamo and Inter Milan, engaged in the Supercoppa Italiana, Naples took control of Serie A by dominating Fiorentina (0-3) in Florence on Saturday during a 19th day marked by the absence of other high-level teams.
The Partenopei took sole lead of the Italian championship, easily winning their match against Fiorentina (0-3) during a 19th day played without the other heavyweights of Serie A also involved in the Supercoppa Italiana.
Naples opened the scoring in the 29th minute with a magnificent goal from David Neres. The Brazilian, starting from midfield, made his way through the Fiorentina defense after a one-two with Romelu Lukaku. Lukaku then doubled the advantage from the penalty spot in the 54th minute, and Scott McTominay took advantage of a poor defensive clearance from the “Viola” to beat his former Manchester United teammate, David De Gea, in the 68th minute.
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Naples (44 points) returns to the top of the standings, a position it had occupied from days 6 to 14, now three points ahead of Atalanta and four ahead of Inter Milan. Antonio Conte’s side recorded their 13th victory since August, matching the win total from the entire disastrous 2023-2024 season, where they finished tenth as defending champions.
“Having 44 points at this stage of the season was unimaginable at the start, and it’s a great source of pride for this team who are working well,” admitted assistant coach Cristian Stellini after their tenth match without conceding a goal.
Atalanta – beaten on Thursday by Inter in the semi-final of the Supercoppa Italiana in Riyadh – and Inter, who will face AC Milan in the final of this competition on Monday, will respectively play their late matches of the 19th day against Juventus Turin on February 14 and against Bologna the next day.
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Inter also have a second postponed match against Fiorentina, which was interrupted in early December following Edoardo Bove’s cardiac arrest, with no new date set yet.
Meanwhile, Fiorentina, who were third after matchday 12, are in difficulty: they suffered their third defeat in four games and slipped to sixth place (32 points).
