MILAN (AP) — Defending champion Napoli continued its strong run since late 2025 with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Lazio on Sunday, moving into second place in Serie A.
Leonardo Spinazzola and Amir Rahmani scored in the first half of Napoli’s first match of 2026.
It was a terrible finish, with three red cards in the final 10 minutes.
Lazio defender Adam Marusic and Napoli defender Pasquale Mazzocchi were sent off for a scuffle that escalated into a scuffle with Napoli manager Antonio Conte who tried to separate them.
Lazio forward Tijani Noslin had already received a second yellow card and was sent off in the 81st minute.
Napoli are one point behind Serie A leaders AC Milan and one ahead of Inter Milan, who will then play Bologna.
Inter host Napoli next weekend.
Napoli finished in good shape last year with a 2-0 win against Cremonese, but immediately after Italian Super Cup Winner.
The away team took the lead in the 13th minute. Matteo Politano twisted around on the right and put in a cross for Spinazzola to volley home.
Napoli doubled their lead in the 33rd when Rahmani headed Politano’s free kick into the bottom right corner.
Apart from the red card, the only negative for Napoli was that David Neres had to be relieved in the 70th minute after the in-form winger went down with an apparent ankle problem, adding to the team’s already long injury list.
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