MILAN (AP) — Napoli was jeered and sent off the field after losing 2-0 at home to Lazio on Saturday. With this result, Inter Milan take a big step towards winning the Serie A title next week.
Lazio, with goals from Matteo Cancellieri and Toma Bacic, could have won by a wider margin had they not saved a penalty and missed several other chances.
Inter win next Sunday against Turin and will clinch the league title if Napoli fail to beat bottom Cremonese two days ago. AC Milan still have a chance of delaying Inter’s celebrations, but they need to win their remaining two games, against Hellas Verona on Sunday and next week at home to Juventus.
Inter beat Cagliari on FridayThey are 12 points above Napoli and 15 points above Milan. There are only 5 rounds left after this weekend.
Lazio started the game aggressively in Napoli, and the visitors took the lead in the sixth minute when Kenneth Taylor broke through down the left flank and the relatively free Cancellieri scored.
Lazio could have doubled their lead in the 31st minute when Tijani Noslin was bundled in by Stanislav Lobotka inside the area, but penalty specialist Vanja Milinkovic-Savic parried Mattia Zaccagni’s spot-kick and sent the rebound over the bar from close range.
After missing other chances, Lazio scored another point in the 57th minute. Nuno Tavares ran up the left flank and rolled the ball towards Canlieri, who fired a shot that gently hit teammate Toma Basic and was deflected away.
It was Napoli’s first loss at home in Serie A this season.
Roma then faced Atalanta, hoping to close in on the top four.
Almost safe
Nesta Elfesi’s first Serie A goal helped the team to a 1-0 victory over Udinese, effectively securing Parma’s top-flight spot.
The 25-year-old, who joined from Grenoble in January, came off the bench at half-time and scored the winner six minutes later, leaning in with his back to the goal and spinning past the keeper.
Parma moved 12 points above the drop zone.
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