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

Published on: 03 March 2018

Juventus and Lazio looked set to play out a dull, goalless draw until Paulo Dybala's 93rd-minute winner stole all three points from the Biancocelesti.

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 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.

Roma got the better of Napoli on Saturday.

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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Source: espn.co.uk

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