European roundup: Napoli back on track after bizarre Lecce own goal
Napoli took another step closer to ending their 33-year wait for a Serie A title after they came away from Lecce with a 2-1 win thanks to a bizarre own goal from Lecce defender Antonino Gallo.
Luciano Spalletti’s side extended their lead at the top of the table to 19 points over second-placed Lazio, who play Juventus on Saturday.
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Napoli, whose shock 4-0 loss to Milan last Sunday was only their third league defeat of the season, are within touching distance of winning the Serie A title for the first time since 1990 with nine matches remaining.
Napoli opened the scoring on 18 minutes when an unmarked Giovanni Di Lorenzo headed home Kim Min-jae’s cross. Lecce equalised seven minutes into the second half after Federico Di Francesco pounced on a rebound inside the box and sent the ball into the bottom corner.
Lecce’s momentum disappeared in the 64th minute when Gallo chested the ball back to keeper Wladimiro Falcone, who saw it slip between his gloves and into the net.
The match concluded another miserable week for Lecce, who have suffered six straight defeats in Serie A and are 16th, eight points above the relegation zone.
Elsewhere, Internazionale were held 1-1 at Salernitana, while Milan were below par as they were held to a goalless draw by Empoli, leaving them with work to do before Wednesday’s opening leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Napoli.
Milan are now third in Serie A with 52 points, 22 points behind runaway leaders Napoli. They trail second-placed Lazio by three points.
Milan looked a shadow of the team that thrashed Napoli 4-0 just five days ago as they kept being thwarted by Empoli’s dogged defence. “This is a pity, but the team is in good shape. The result is negative, but not the performance,” said Stefano Pioli, Milan’s manager.
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“It is certainly not the result we wanted and our regrets are more about the first half, where we could have pushed harder. We played with intensity, allowing Empoli nothing at all, and did everything we needed to in the second half to win the game, but the ball didn’t want to go in.”
In France, Lens beat Strasbourg 2-1 to provisionally cut Paris Saint-Germain’s once double-digit lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table to three points.
Lens are second on 63 points, three ahead of third-placed Marseille, who travel to Lorient on Sunday. Strasbourg remain in 16th on 26 points. PSG visit Nice on Saturday night.