Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti refused to rule his side out of the title race after a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Bologna at the Stadio San Paolo on Saturday.
Despite a brace from Arkadiusz Milik being wiped out by a pair of Bologna headers, Dries Mertens rifled in at the death to secure victory and move Napoli nine points behind runaway leaders Juventus at the halfway stage of the Serie A season.
Although Juventus have only dropped points on two occasions all term, Ancelotti insisted that nothing had been concluded yet and urged his side to keep pushing.
“All our objectives are long-term and May is still very far away,” the former AC Milan and Chelsea coach declared in his post-match press conference. “The goals are far away for everyone, although perhaps for Juventus they are closer than for others.
“We have to look ahead though, because we are closer to first place than we are to fifth [Roma] and we will continue to be competitive in this race.”
Napoli will look to put more pressure on Juventus when they take on Lazio after the winter break.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com