Serie A | Roma 0-1 Napoli: Neres decisive in Scudetto battle

David Neres completed a rapid counter-attack to give Napoli a massive victory away to Roma, leapfrogging them to go joint top of the table with AC Milan.

This was a huge head-to-head for top spot with only two points separating them. Paulo Dybala returned to the starting XI during Thursday’s Europa League win over Midtjylland, leaving only Artem Dovbyk and Angelino on the treatment table, but La Joya was only on the bench here. The Partenopei beat Qarabag 2-0 in the Champions League midweek, as the 3-4-3 formation was getting consolidated after losing Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa, Billy Gilmour, Kevin De Bruyne, Miguel Gutierrez, Alex Meret and Romelu Lukaku.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Mile Svilar showed brave goalkeeping to rush off his line and make the block as Noa Lang ran onto a ball over the top, then scrambled back in time to save the Rasmus Hojlund follow-up too.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo volleyed a David Neres cross onto the side-netting at the back post, while Vanja Milinkovic-Savic was right behind a Gianluca Mancini snapshot.

Svilar at full stretch pushed a Lang cross-shot away with one glove from a tricky angle after it grazed Mancini’s head, while Amir Rrahmani just about stopped Evan Ferguson tapping in the Lorenzo Pellegrini pull-back from six yards.

Napoli broke the deadlock when Rrahmani made a sliding tackle on Manu Koné on the edge of the area, sparking a rapid counter-attack that saw David Neres combine with Hojlund before dinking the finish over the on-rushing Svilar. Roma protested, but VAR confirmed Rrahmani got his boot to the ball, so Neres got his third goal in two Serie A games.

Tommaso Baldanzi replaced Ferguson for the restart, so Roma returned to the False 9 system, but Dybala was not fit enough for the full 45 minutes.

Svilar denied Hojlund at the near post on a Noa Lang lay-off, as the Giallorossi started to dominate possession, but without creating many clear-cut chances.

Instead, Matteo Politano tested Svilar from distance with a left-foot curler, while Lorenzo Pellegrini’s powerful strike flashed just over the bar for Roma.

The biggest opportunity for the hosts was in the final minute of normal time, when Dybala flicked on the ball to release Baldanzi, his ferocious drive parried with a strong one-handed save by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.