Thanks to a stoppage-time goal from Fabián Ruiz, Napoli on Sunday took advantage of AC Milan and Inter Milan dropping points on Friday and are now atop the Serie A table based on goal differential. Luciano Spalletti’s squad defeated Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico, 2-1, to tie Milan with 57 points. Both clubs have a two-point cushion over Inter Milan, though the Nerazzurri have a game in hand.
Meanwhile, Juventus won at Empoli with Dusan Vlahović scoring a brace and are now also potentially back in the scudetto race with 50 points. Next Sunday, Napoli will host AC Milan at the Stadio Maradona in a crucial match as the title race heats up.
Here is Sunday’s scoreboard and more on the day’s action. All Serie A matches this season are streaming live on Paramount+.
Sunday’s Serie A scores
Cagliari 2, Torino 1
Hellas Verona 3, Venezia 1
Roma 1, Spezia 0
Lazio 1, Napoli 2
Napoli leave it late
An emotional and dramatic second half with goals from Lorenzo Insigne and Ruiz ensured that Napoli players and fans went to sleep knowing their team sat atop a crowded top-half of the table. Soon-to-be Toronto FC player Insigne scored the opening goal of the match on a shot outside the box 62 minutes in. Napoli seemed to be in control but Pedro scored an amazing goal just two minutes from time to pull Lazio level. The two sides seemed destined to split points until Ruiz scored at death to give Napoli a late victory. Take a look:
Abraham fires Roma to win
Elsewhere, AS Roma beat Spezia, 1-0, with a last-minute penalty scored by English striker Tammy Abraham. The win fuels Jose Mourinho’s bid to stay alive in the race for Champions League qualification. The Giallorossi were able to find an important win after three draws in a row against Genoa, Sassuolo and Hellas Verona.
Best of the rest
Cagliari beat Torino 2-1 to keep their good form going. Walter Mazzarri’s team is currently fighting to avoid relegation, and from the beginning of the calendar year they completely changed their trend and registered 15 points to boost their chances of survival. Only Juventus have earned more points than them in 2022 with 16.
Hellas Verona won against Venezia at home (3-1) with Giovanni Simeone scoring a hat trick for Igor Tudor’s side that reached 40 points in the current Serie A season. Simeone was absolutely outstanding and already managed to score 15 goals this season, his best one so far in Italy. Hellas Verona have a €12 million option to buy included in the deal signed with Cagliari last summer, and it’s extremely likely that this clause will be triggered at the end of the season. It’s also very likely that many other clubs will approach Verona in the summer for the Argentinian striker, who is the son of Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone.