ROME (AP) — Canada’s standout player Jonathan David He is starting to regain his form as his home World Cup approaches.
David scored his third goal in four games as Juventus defeated defending champions Napoli 3-0. Serie A on sunday.
The result meant that manager Luciano Spalletti outperformed manager Antonio Conte, with both managers playing against their former teams.
Midway through the first half, a pass from Manuel Locatelli went over the top and David chested it into the goal.
Three minutes earlier, Juventus midfielder Kefren Thuram hit the post, and three minutes later the Turin club had another chance when Francisco Conceição’s shot was cleared on the line by Napoli defender Alessandro Bongiorno.
Kenan Yildiz and Filip Kostic added goals for hosts Juventus in the second half.
Napoli remained in third place, three points behind AC Milan, who visited Rome late on Sunday. Juventus are tied on points with Roma in fourth place.
Spalletti led Napoli to the Serie A title in 2023, while Conte, who also played for Juventus, led them to three consecutive Italian league titles.
David scored on his Serie A debut for Juventus in August, but then suffered a long slump and returned to form this month with a goal and an assist against Sassuolo and a goal against Cremonese. He also provided an assist in Juve’s win over Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday.
David’s season also saw him overcome a change of manager, with Spalletti replacing Igor Tudor, who was sacked in October.
Canada will co-host this year’s World Cup with the United States and Mexico.
Canada is in the same group as Qatar and Switzerland, and four-time champions Italy are also included, with the other team to be decided in the European playoffs.
Lukaku makes his debut for Napoli this season
The only good news for Napoli was that Romelu Lukaku came on in the second half in his first appearance since being injured in a pre-season friendly.
Lukaku wasted his only chance after a great set-up from Rasmus Højlund.
Seventh-placed Atalanta also defeated Parma 4-0 with Giacomo Raspadori scoring his first goal for Bergamo after joining from Atletico Madrid.
Daniele De Rossi’s Genoa came back from two goals behind to beat Bologna 10-a-side 3-2 with Junior Mesias’ stoppage-time winner. Sassuolo then defeated Cremonese 1-0.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
