Italy Roundup: Napoli shows Roma they’ll fight for second behind distancing Juventus

Fiorentina’s loss to Juventus has effectively eliminated the storied club from the race for the Top Three -- if there was a chance at all -- while Napoli’s win over Roma says there’s plenty to be decided when it comes to Serie A’s second spot.

Kwadwo Asamoah’s second goal of the season came in the 42nd minute, and it was all The Old Lady would need to extend its top of the table total to 72 points. Juve is now 14-0 at home of the season as Gianluigi Buffon snagged clean sheet No. 14 on the season.

The match was just as even as the score suggested, but Fiorentina will again rue just how close they were to making a statement. Ryder Matos hit the bar on a header that would’ve equalized the match moments after he subbed into the contest. Earlier, Mario Gomez’s dangerous header went wide of the frame.

The Napoli-Roma match at San Paolo had a scary moment, as Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman was carted off the field for Roma. Jose Maria Callejon’s 81st minute goal was the only marker of the match as Napoli pulled to within three points of second-place Roma (though i Lupi has a match-in-hand).

Roma had the better of attacking moments in the match, but Napoli boss Rafa Benitez won’t be complaining after he turned up the heat in the race for second. With the loss -- and injury -- it’s hard to imagine Roma making an improbable run to leapfrog Juventus. The gap between first and second place is now 14 points.

Elsewhere

• Lazio 0-1 Atalanta — Home loss not nearly as disconcerting as the near-lack of fans in the seats as Lazio supporters protest against their club president.
• Inter Milan 1-0 Torino -- Hosts keep the heat on Fiorentina after a Rodrigo Palacio goal lifts them to a seventh home win.
• Parma 2-0 Verona – Goals from Jonathan Biabiany and Ezequiel Schelotto serve to create three points room between the sixth- and seventh-place clubs of Serie A.
• Sampdoria 4-2 Livorno– The road team looked ready to spur a jump from the drop zone after two goals in eight minutes from Ibrahima Mbaye gave them a 2-0 halftime lead, but Sampdoria found two goals by the 53rd minute before Stefano Okaka and Manolo Gabbiadini lifted their team to the win.
• Chievo 2-1 Genoa – It was a good day to have a penalty-taker, as Alberto Paloschi converted pens in the 5th and 90th minute to offset Alberto Gilardino’s 88th minute goal as Chievo pulled three points clear of the drop.
• Verona 0-0 Bologna – The visitors’ earned point worth its weight in gold as they stay out of the drop zone, but they’ll rue not taking all three after Rafael saved Rolando Bianchi’s penalty kick.
• Bologna 0-0 Sassuolo — Visitors can only find one point from massive six-pointer as relegation continues to loom for bottom-dwellers are now five points from safety.

Standings

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Home	Away	PTS
Juventus	27	23	3	1	63	19	44	14-0-0	9-3-1	72
Roma	26	17	7	2	49	12	37	10-3-0	7-4-2	58
Napoli	27	16	7	4	52	29	23	9-4-1	7-3-3	55
Fiorentina	27	13	6	8	45	30	15	7-3-3	6-3-5	45
Inter Milan	27	11	11	5	44	29	15	7-6-1	4-5-4	44
Parma	26	11	10	5	41	29	12	6-6-2	5-4-3	43
Verona	27	12	4	11	43	44	-1	8-2-4	4-2-7	40
Lazio	27	10	8	9	34	35	-1	7-3-3	3-5-6	38
Torino	27	9	9	9	39	35	4	5-5-3	4-4-6	36
AC Milan	27	9	8	10	39	38	1	6-4-3	3-4-7	35
Genoa	27	9	8	10	31	34	-3	6-4-3	3-4-7	35
Sampdoria	27	9	7	11	33	39	-6	5-4-5	4-3-6	34
Atalanta	27	10	4	13	28	38	-10	8-2-3	2-2-10	34
Udinese	27	9	4	14	30	39	-9	6-2-5	3-2-9	31
Cagliari	27	6	11	10	27	36	-9	6-4-4	0-7-6	29
Chievo	27	6	6	15	22	38	-16	4-2-7	2-4-8	24
Bologna	27	4	11	12	22	41	-19	2-7-5	2-4-7	23
Livorno	27	5	6	16	29	50	-21	3-4-7	2-2-9	21
Catania	27	4	8	15	20	46	-26	4-6-3	0-2-12	20
Sassuolo	27	4	6	17	25	55	-30	3-1-9	1-5-8	18

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