Sunday, March, 04, 2018
  • Nation
  • World
  • States
  • Cities
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Galleries
  • Videos
  • Life Style
  • Specials
  • Opinions
  • All Sections  
    States Tamil Nadu Kerala Karnataka Andhra Pradesh Telangana Odisha
    Cities Chennai DelhiBengaluru Hyderabad Kochi Thiruvananthapuram
    Nation World Business Sport Cricket Football Tennis Other Education Social News
    Entertainment English Hindi Kannada Malayalam Tamil Telugu Review Galleries Videos
    Auto Life style Tech Health Travel Food Books Spirituality
    Opinions Editorials Ask Prabhu Columns Prabhu Chawla T J S George S Gurumurthy Ravi Shankar Shankkar Aiyar Shampa Dhar-Kamath Karamatullah K Ghori
    Today's Paper Edex Indulge Event Xpress Magazine The Sunday Standard E-paper
Home Sport Football

Roma end Napoli's 10-win streak to throw Serie A title race wide open

By AFP  |   Published: 04th March 2018 02:24 PM  |  

Last Updated: 04th March 2018 02:24 PM  |   A+A A-   |  

0

Share Via Email

Roma forward Edin Dzeko scores his team's third goal during Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and AS Roma at the San Paolo stadium in Naples, Italy, Saturday, March 3, 2018. | AP

ROME: Napoli's 10-match winning streak in Serie A came to an end on Saturday when they slumped to a shock 4-2 home defeat to AS Roma as the leaders suffered just their second league loss this season.

The result kept Napoli on top of the table but their lead is now just one point after Juventus earlier defeated Lazio courtesy of an injury-time strike from Paulo Dybala.

Juventus, crucially, also have a game in hand.

When Lorenzo Insigne gave Napoli the lead from close range after six minutes it seemed the evening would be straightforward.

But Turkey's Cengiz Under levelled just a minute later with a deflected shot.

That set the stage for Edin Dzeko to carve out a little bit of personal history.

He made it 2-1 in the 26th minute with a header from an Alessandro Florenzi cross before he curled in a terrific left-foot strike from the edge of the area in the 79th minute for 3-1.

That goal allowed the Bosnian striker to become the first player to score at least 50 goals in three of Europe's major leagues -- Italy's Serie A, the German Bundesliga and the Premier League in England.

Diego Perotti made it 4-1 ten minutes from time after pouncing on a lazy clearance from on-loan Roma left-back Mario Rui.

Dries Mertens pulled one back for Napoli in time added-on but the three points allowed Roma to move into third place in the table, albeit 16 points behind the pacesetters.

Argentina striker Dybala marked his comeback after a month on the sidelines by scoring a last-gasp winner in Juve's 1-0 victory at Lazio in a perfect boost ahead of next week's Champions League clash at Tottenham.

Dybala, left out of the Argentine squad this week, shrugged off his rustiness by pouncing in the third minute of injury time.

Lazio, now down in fourth spot in the table, a point back from Roma, had already defeated Juventus twice this season in the Italian Super Cup and Serie A.

They looked to be hanging on for a point until Dybala, out for a month with a thigh injury, scored a memorable goal when he held off a Marco Parolo challenge before driving the ball past Thomas Strakosha in the Lazio goal.

Juventus will now travel to London for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 clash after a 2-2 draw in Turin in February.

"I didn't know if I was meant to play 90 minutes, as it was my first start and we have a big game on Wednesday," Dybala told Sky Sports Italia.

"I felt good and got the goal. But we must improve our technique in London and come out stronger in the first half." 

Saturday's game also saw Juve keep a clean sheet for the 18th time in their last 20 matches in all competitions, including in 10 of 11 since the turn of the year.

The only side to score against them in 2018 was Tottenham.

Stay up to date on all the latest Football news with The New Indian Express App. Download now
TAGS
Roma Napoli' Serie A

O
P
E
N

More from this section

Like father, like son: Timothy Weah makes PSG debut

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hopes in-form Mohamed Salah features in awards' lists

Victor Lindelof's emergence gives Manchester United defensive stability

Latest

Germany's Social Democratic Party approve new coalition with Merkel

Anna Hazare meets the protesting SSC aspirants in Delhi

Vietnam supports India's permanent UNSC membership

Italy votes in uncertain election stalked by populism

South Korea to send envoys to North on Monday

KKR appoint Dinesh Karthik as skipper for IPL 2018

Cop posted at Chennai's Jaya memorial shoots self dead

INX Media case: CBI takes Karti Chidambaram to Mumbai

China says to 'take necessary measures' if US harms trade

Videos
BJP chief Amit Shah (File | PTI)
Golden period of BJP will begin when we win Odisha, Bengal, Kerala: Amit Shah 
Janhvi Kapoor with her mother Sridevi (Photo | Instagram)
Janhvi Kapoor pens a heartfelt note to mother Sridevi on her birthday 
arrow
Gallery
After their victory in North-East Assembly election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah wave as they arrive to address BJP party workers at party headquarters in New Delhi. (PTI)
IN PICTURES | BJP overthrows Left dominance in Tripura, rises in North-East states
Hola Mohalla is a Sikh festival which is celebrated a day after the Hindu festival Holi.  Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, was the first to start the celebrations. The festival lasts for three days. The word Holla Mohalla stands for 'the charge of
Sikhs carry out colourful procession to celebrate 'Hola Mohalla'
arrow

Trending

FOLLOW US

Copyright - newindianexpress.com 2018

Dinamani | Kannada Prabha | Samakalika Malayalam | Malayalam Vaarika | Indulgexpress | Edex Live | Cinema Express | Event Xpress

Contact Us | About Us | Careers | Privacy Policy | Search | Terms of Use | Advertise With Us

Home | Nation | World | Cities | Business | Columns | Entertainment | Sport | Magazine | The Sunday Standard