ROME: Napoli’s unexpected loss means Juventus can claim an eighth consecutive Serie A title as early as this weekend.

Napoli were beaten 2-1 at relegation-threatened Empoli on Wednesday to fall 18 points behind Juve beat Cagliari 2-0 on Tuesday.

The Turin giants play AC Milan at home this weekend and would claim another title if they open up a 21-point gap on

Napoli, who have lost both their matches this season to Juve. Juve would need to beat Milan on Saturday and for Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli to lose to Genoa a day later in order to seal the championship.

Empoli, which also played well in a 1-0 loss to Juve at the weekend, went ahead when a deflected shot from Diego Farias confused goalkeeper Alex Meret.

Piotr Zielinski equalised with a long-range blast before the break but Giovanni Di Lorenzo was left unmarked to head in from a corner on 53 minutes as Empoli moved one point above the drop zone.

Inter Milan forward Mauro Icardi quickly made an impact on his return from a nearly two-month long standoff over protracted contract negotiations .

After Roberto Gagliardini put Inter ahead, Icardi earned and converted a penalty and assisted on the third goal in a 4-0 win at Genoa that strengthened Inter’s hold on third place and a Champions League spot.

Icardi had already hit the post when he was pulled down inside the area by Cristian Romero, drawing a red card for the defender. Icardi then calmly converted the spot kick when goalkeeper Andrei Radu went the other way.

After the break, Icardi provided a perfect pass to set up a goal for Ivan Perisic. Gagliardini then added another with a header that was confirmed by goal-line technology.

Inter lost 1-0 to Lazio last weekend but have again reduced the gap on Napoli to seven points, and are four ahead of Milan who were held 1-1 by Udinese on Tuesday.

Lazio, with a game in hand, wasted a chance to move into the Champions League places with a 1-0 loss at SPAL, as Andrea Petagna converted a late penalty following a decision by the VAR.

AS Roma moved level on points with sixth-place Lazio following a 2-2 draw at home with Fiorentina, the third straight match that the Giallorossi failed to win.

Also, Andrea Belotti scored a brace in Torino’s 2-1 win over Sampdoria; and relegation-threatened Frosinone beat Parma 3-2 with a penalty in the 13th minute of added time following a long VAR review.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2019