NAPLES: Napoli climbed into second place in Serie A and moved a step closer to Champions League qualification with a 5-1 rout at home to Udinese on Tuesday.

Gennaro Gattuso’s side are on 73 points, one above Atalanta and AC Milan and four ahead of fifth-placed Juventus.

However, all three of those teams have a game in hand and there are then two rounds remaining.

Udinese goalkeeper Juan Musso blocked a Victor Osimhen shot from close range after 29 minutes but could do nothing to stop Piotr Zielinski from firing home the rebound.

Fabian Ruiz doubled the hosts’ lead two minutes later with a whipped shot into the top corner from edge of the area, but Stefano Okaka pulled one back for the visitors before halftime.

Hirving Lozano pounced on a slack pass from Musso to fire home Napoli’s third after 56 minutes, and they made it four when Giovanni Di Lorenzo tucked in a close-range finish.

Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne hit the woodwork late on but got his goal in stoppage time as he controlled an attempted clearance with his chest before firing powerfully into the bottom corner.

The result extended Napoli’s unbeaten league run to seven games and leaves them in a strong position to seal a top-four finish in their remaining two games of the season against Fiorentina and Hellas Verona.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2021