• Napoli's Marek Hamsik celebrates after scoring the goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Sampdoria at San Paolo stadium in Naples, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017. (Ciro Fusco/ANSA via AP) Photo: Ciro Fusco / ANSA
Photo: Ciro Fusco
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Napoli's Marek Hamsik celebrates after scoring the goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Sampdoria at San Paolo stadium in Naples, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017. (Ciro Fusco/ANSA via AP) less
Napoli's Marek Hamsik celebrates after scoring the goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Sampdoria at San Paolo stadium in Naples, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017. (Ciro Fusco/ANSA via ... more
Photo: Ciro Fusco

Maradona's record eclipsed by Hamsik

NAPLES, Italy — Marek Hamsik became Napoli's all-time leading scorer after netting his 116th goal for the Serie A club to surpass Argentina great Diego Maradona's tally on Saturday.

Midfielder Hamsik, who drew level with Maradona last weekend, took the record outright by scoring what proved to be the winner in the 39th minute of Napoli's 3-2 victory over Sampdoria.

Hamsik was presented with a pair of special shinpads after the match, emblazoned with a picture of himself, the number "116" and "Forza Napoli" ("come on Napoli") over a background of Napoli fans holding aloft team scarves.

More soccer: Medhi Benatia scored against his old club to help Juventus beat title rival Roma 1-0 and move to within a point of leader Napoli in one of the tightest Serie A races in years. Juventus moved four points above Inter Milan, which had a penalty saved in a 1-0 loss at Sassuolo. Roma remained fourth, seven points behind Napoli but with a game in hand. ... Manchester United's faint title hopes further imploded when 10-man Leicester scored with almost the last kick of the English Premier League game to recover a 2-2 draw. Harry Maguire got ahead of United defender Chris Smalling at the far post to latch onto Marc Albrighton's high pass in the fourth minute of stoppage time, stretching his right leg to put the ball into the net. By conceding the equalizer, second-place United fell 13 points behind rampant Manchester City, which beat Bournemouth 4-0 earlier in the day. ... Barcelona has almost ended Real Madrid's defense of its Spanish league title, and there's still half a season to go. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez left Madrid staring at a 14-point deficit after leading Barcelona to a 3-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid has a game in hand, but the gap already looks too big as La Liga approaches its midway point. Barcelona increased its lead to nine points over second-place Atletico Madrid, which lost at Espanyol on Friday. Valencia's 1-0 loss to Villarreal at home on Saturday left it 11 points back.

— Wire reports