ROME: Fernando Llorente’s free transfer to Napoli is paying large dividends.

The Spanish striker scored two goals and set up another in a 4-1 win at promoted Lecce in Serie A on Sunday, five days after also playing a part in both goals of Napoli’s 2-0 victory over titleholders Liverpool in the Champions League.

Not bad for a 34-year-old cast aside by Champions League runners-up Tottenham Hotspur when his contract expired at the end of last season.

“He certainly made a good impression,” Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “I liked the way he played alongside Arkadiusz Milik and their positioning. The first goal also came from a Milik shot, so we’ve got a lot of variety to choose from in attack.”

Receiving his first start since joining Napoli on deadline day, Llorente was ready and well positioned when a shot from Milik ricocheted into his path, using one touch to put the Partenopei ahead midway through the first half.

Then Napoli were awarded a penalty when Panagiotis Tachtsidis used his arm to clear a cross from Llorente.

ROME: Fernando Llorente’s free transfer to Napoli is paying large dividends.

Lorenzo Insigne’s first effort from the penalty spot was saved but goalkeeper Gabriel was adjudged to have stepped off his line too early and Insigne smashed his second shot into the top corner.

Eight minutes from time, Llorente got his second with a rebound of a shot from Insigne.

Fabian Ruiz also scored for Napoli after the break with a blistering effort from beyond the area, before Marco Mancosu pulled one back for Lecce with a penalty.

Napoli moved up to third, three points behind perfect Inter Milan and one point behind eight-time defending champions Juventus.

RACIST ABUSE

Fiorentina full-back Dalbert Henrique became the third player targeted with racist chants in Serie A this season.

The offensive chants prompted a brief suspension during the first half of a 2-2 draw at Atalanta and FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Sunday the problem of racism in Italian football has “not improved”.

Fiorentina defender Dalbert, 26, asked the referee to halt play after half an hour at the Stadio Ennio Tardini until a warning statement was read out by the stadium speaker to jeers and whistles from the Atalanta fans. Play resumed after three minutes.

“In Italy the situation has not improved and this is serious,” Infantino, in Italy ahead of the FIFA Best Awards on Monday, told the Italian Rai2 channel.

“Racism is fought through education, condemning it, talking about it, we cannot accept racism in society and in football. We have to identify those responsible and throw them out of the stadiums, we need clear sentences, as in England, we must not be afraid to condemn the racists, we must fight them to the end.”

Since the beginning of the season, Inter Milan’s Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku and AC Milan’s Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie have been targeted by monkey cries during league games without any sanction being taken.

Federico Chiesa and Franck Ribery scored for Fiorentina before Josip Ilicic and Timothy Castagne replied for Atalanta in the final minutes.

ROMA GRAB LATE WIN

Elsewhere, Edin Dzeko scored a last-gasp winner as AS Roma beat Bologna 2-1 to go fourth, a point behind Napoli.

Roma defender Aleksandar Kolarov went from hero to zero in the space of five second-half minutes as he scored a superb free-kick before conceding a penalty to gift Nicola Sansone the equaliser.

Roma’s Gianluca Mancini was shown a second yellow card with five minutes remaining but Dzeko powered home a header from point-blank range in the dying seconds to send the capital club fourth.

Ciro Immobile and Adam Marusic scored as Lazio moved into fifth with a 2-0 win at home to Parma that took them to seven points but ahead of Atalanta and Bologna on goal difference, while Francesco Caputo scored twice in Sassuolo’s 3-0 victory against SPAL.

Sampdoria moved off the bottom of the table, earning their first points as Manolo Gabbiadini’s goal sent Torino crashing to their second consecutive league defeat.

The Genoa club’s place at the foot of the table was taken by Fiorentina, the only team without a win.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2019