A roundup of all of the weekend’s action in Italy’s top flight:
[ MORE: La Liga roundup ]
Sampdoria 2-4 Napoli
Napoli held onto the top spot in the Serie A table with a 4-2 road victory over a 10-man Sampdoria side on Sunday. Gonzalo Higuain opened the scoring (9th minute - below video) with his 21st goal in 21 league games this season, and Lorenzo Insigne doubled the lead nine minutes later.
GOAL! That man @G_Higuain again, 21 in 21! L-E-T-H-A-L. @sscnapoli lead @sampdoria. #SerieA https://t.co/V0ael9KYOw
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) January 24, 2016
Sampdoria hit back through Joaquin Correa just before halftime, but Marek Hamsik restored the two goal lead with a slaloming run through the penalty are on the hour mark (below video), one minute after Sampdoria were reduced to 10 men. Eder gave the hosts a lifeline in 73rd minute, but Dries Mertens put the game out of reach six minutes later to secure Napoli’s fifth straight league victory.
GOAL! Hamsik with some quality close control, before poking home. @sscnapoli up 1-3. #SerieA https://t.co/7IYwQ6fpTI
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) January 24, 2016
Juventus 1-0 Roma
Sunday’s triumph over Roma made it 11 straight wins for Juventus, though Napoli’s current run has done just enough to keep the four-time defending champions out of the top spot, for the time being. The bianconeri were made to wait quite some time for Sunday’s winner, which arrived at long last in the 77th minute. It was 22-year-old Paulo Dybala who bagged his 12th goal (to go with 7 assists) of the league season (below video). With both sides holding serve on Sunday, Juve (45 points) remain two points behind Napoli.
There's a new icon in the @juventus jersey. His name is @PauDybala_JR and he scores like this: #JuveRoma https://t.co/Sq3nKWPkhF
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) January 24, 2016
Fiorentina 2-0 Torino
Fiorentina remain somewhat alive in the title race, six points back of Napoli, after a routine 2-0 home victory over Torino on Sunday. Josip Ilicic opened the scoring in the 24th minute and Gonzalo Rodriguez provided the late insurance goal in the 83rd. Sunday’s victory ended a two-game losing streak for the Viola.
Inter Milan 1-1 Carpi
Inter Milan, who for so long looked serious players in the race for the title and as recently as two weeks ago held the lead, slipped further away from contention with a 1-1 draw with 18th-place Carpi. Rodrigo Palacio put Inter ahead on 39 minutes, and Roberto Mancini’s side looked destined to see out the narrow home victory, only to see Kevin Lasagna equalize in the 91st minute. Winless in three (two draws), Inter are also six points back of Napoli and sit in fourth on goal differential.
Elsewhere in Serie A
Empoli 2-2 AC Milan
Frosinone 0-0 Atalanta
Sassuolo 0-2 Bologna
Lazio 4-1 Chievo
Hellas Verona 1-1 Genoa
Palermo 4-1 Udinese