Football
PA Sport 6y

Napoli's title hopes take major blow with defeat, Juventus win

Edin Dzeko scored twice as Roma dealt a major blow to Napoli's hopes of winning the Serie A title with a 4-2 victory at Stadio San Paolo.

Napoli, who last won the Scudetto in 1990, led reigning champions Juventus by four points before the Bianconeri closed the gap to one -- and still with a game in hand -- following their dramatic 1-0 triumph at Lazio earlier on Saturday.

It looked like Napoli were set fair to re-establish their advantage when Lorenzo Insigne poked home a sixth-minute opener.

But Roma responded immediately through Cengiz Under, who made it six goals from six outings with his clever chipped finish. Former Manchester City striker Dzeko completed the turnaround before half-time.

After the break Dzeko delivered the best goal of the night, the Bosnian cutting inside and finding the inside of the far post after receiving Aleksandar Kolarov's pass.

Diego Perotti added a fourth for Roma thanks to a mistake by Mario Rui and Napoli forward Dries Mertens did not even bother celebrating when he cut the deficit from close range in stoppage time.

Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri said he did not immediately understand how Roma were able to cut through their defence so efficiently.

"I'll have to watch the game again, because from the touchline there were many positives. We had 26 shots on goal and 13 on target," Sarri told Mediaset Premium. "We have to work out how Roma, who had eight touches in our penalty area throughout the game, managed to score four goals so easily. It's something we need to look at.

"Our fans know that we are not the strongest club in Italian football, but we're doing well regardless. I thank them for cheering us on and applauding after the final whistle, as they know we are giving our all."

Earlier, Paulo Dybala's last-gasp goal avenged Juventus' October defeat to Lazio, a result which destabilised the Bianconeri bid for an historic seventh straight Scudetto.

Here, Juve enjoyed the best chances, with Mario Mandzukic and Sami Khedira both going close, and Lazio seemed largely content to frustrate their visitors while waiting for opportunities to counter.

However, with just seconds remaining in the capital, Argentinian forward Dybala tricked his way into the box to hook the ball beyond a flummoxed Thomas Strakosha despite having gone to ground.

Earlier, SPAL escaped the relegation zone by beating their local foes Bologna 1-0 in a bad-tempered match in Ferrara.

Giancarlo Gonzalez's early dismissal left Bologna a man light for most of the game but they held out until Alberto Grassi struck for SPAL three minutes after the break.

Home defender Federico Mattiello was sent off at the death, yet SPAL had done enough to climb to 17th.

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