BERGAMO: Romelu Lukaku scored a late goal to earn Napoli a 3-2 win at Atalanta on Saturday and strengthen their position at the top of the Serie A standings.
The Belgian striker netted 12 minutes from time with a glancing header from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissas cross.
Napoli, who lost 3-0 at home to Atalanta earlier this season, lead the table on 50 points, with Atalanta third on 43.
Atalanta went into the match after three consecutive league draws and the loss to Napoli ended their 16-match unbeaten run.
“It was a great performance against a very, very strong team. The 3-0 they won against us stayed in our heads, but we have made a big step up since then and now we need to keep going,” Lukaku told Sky Sport Italia.
“It is another test to see where we are right now, because its easy to relax after a victory like this, whereas we need to keep focused and try even harder,” Lukaku added.
Serie A top scorer Mateo Retegui continued his outstanding form, scoring his 14th league goal with a left-footed strike into the top corner after 16 minutes to give Atalanta the lead.
Matteo Politano brought Napoli level 11 minutes later, capitalising on a deflected cross that fell into his path.
Napoli struck back five minutes before the break when Anguissa reached the byline and pulled the ball back for Scott McTominay to slot home from close range.
Atalanta striker Ademola Lookman equalised five minutes after the break, nutmegging Giovanni Di Lorenzo before driving into the box under pressure from three Napoli defenders and sending a low shot into the bottom corner.
JUVE SINK MILAN
Earlier on Saturday, Champions League hopefuls Juventus defeated AC Milan 2-0 to provisionally go fourth in the standings. Juve are one point ahead Lazio, who have a game in hand.
Goals in five second-half minutes from Samuel Mbangula and Timothy Weah gave Juventus a deserved win in Turin
Unbeaten Juve snapped a run of three straight draws which had taken their tally of league stalemates to 13, with Saturday’s win just their eighth in 21 fixtures in Italy’s top flight.
Substitute Weah emulated his father in the 64th minute by netting in a Juventus match with Milan 25 years after Ballon d’Or-winner George Weah did the same — for Milan against Juve.
“The boys are growing, match after match, and getting to the point that they can put in a performance like the one they did tonight,” said Motta. “That’s because they all work really hard every day... today’s win is the reward.”
Milan stay eighth and are now six points from the top four, albeit with a game in hand at Bologna which was postponed due to flooding in October and is yet to be rescheduled.
Sergio Conceicao’s team had chances to open the scoring through Tijjani Reijnders and Rafael Leao in an entertaining first half but didn’t show up for the second period of a match full of incident.
The Portuguese called Milan’s collapse after the break “unjustifiable” and said that “when there’s no desire it’s very difficult for me”.
“I’m the one that has to turn this situation around,” added Conceicao.
Elsewhere, Bologna continued their resurgence with a straightforward 3-1 home win over Monza, with strikes from Santiago Castro, Jens Odgaard and Riccardo Orsolini moving Vincenzo Italiano’s team up to sixth on 33 points, four points behind Juve.
Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2025
