TURIN: Second-placed Napoli threw the Serie A title race wide open in dramatic style on Sunday when Kalidou Koulibaly scored with a towering header in the last minute to give them a famous 1-0 win at leaders Juventus.
Napoli cut the gap between themselves and the Turin side to one point with four matches to play, setting up a dramatic finale to the Serie A season especially as Juve, chasing a seventh successive title, have to visit Inter Milan and AS Roma.
Napoli dominated the match but seemed to have run out of ideas and energy until the final minute when Jose Callejon’s outswinging corner was met by Senegal international Koulibaly with a monstrous header which left Gianlugi Buffon helpless.
Juve, themselves famed for pulling off wins from similar situations, were left shattered after seeing their 20-match unbeaten league run ended while Napoli’s players celebrated a famous win.
“We have always believed in the title and now we believe in it more than ever,” Koulibaly said. “We played really well this evening. It was one of the most important goals of my career. Juventus are a really strong team but we showed we are up to the challenge. We believe in our football.”
Juve have 85 points from 34 games with Napoli, bidding for a third Scudetto after 1987 and 1990, on 84. It was Juve’s first league defeat at home since a 2-1 loss to Lazio in October. Their last Serie A defeat in Turin before that was in August 2015.
“Winning here was practically mission impossible, we can be happy because we have played against a great team which hasn’t lost at home for so long,” Koulibaly said.
“The city fired us up over the last few days and when we see all those fans accompanying us to the airport, it makes us very happy. We want to thank them and the best way of doing that was to win the game.”