Napoli surpasses Milan in the Serie A clash for runners-up

Napoli, the defending champion, removed its guest, Milan, from second place in the Italian Football League standings, by defeating them 1-0 at the end of the thirty-first stage.

It seemed that the confrontation at the “Diego Armando Maradona” stadium was on its way to a draw, before substitute Matteo Politano had his say a few minutes after his entry, by scoring the winning goal for coach Antonio Conte’s team in the 79th minute with a left-footed shot from a tight angle.

Thus, Napoli raised its score to 65 points and became second, two points behind Milan and seven behind leaders Inter, who won Sunday over Roma 5-2.

Udinese stopped the streak of consecutive victories for its guest Como at five, when they forced them to a goalless draw, giving Juventus the opportunity to return strongly to the struggle to participate in the Champions League.

Cuomo, the surprise of the season, led by his coach, former Spanish national team, Barcelona and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, raised his score in the last fourth place qualifying for the Champions League to 58 points, but the difference with his pursuer, President Juventus, was reduced to a point with the latter’s victory over its guest, Genoa, 2-0.

Como awaits a fiery summit next Sunday against its guest, Inter, the leaders, knowing that it will be the guest of the latter on April 21 in the second leg of the semi-final of the local cup competition after they tied 0-0 in the first leg.

Fabregas told the Dazon platform after the match, “Both teams faced difficulties in finding spaces. It was a very tactical match and neither side took the initiative.”

He continued, “However, we had two great chances to score, and this is important. In general, I did not like the team’s performance in terms of possession of the ball, as the level of many players was below what was required today.”

He continued, “We must not forget that Roma, Napoli, Atalanta, and Fiorentina all lost here. Also, some international players have had long trips over the past few days, and as a coach I have to take that into consideration.”

He believed that, “In such circumstances, it is important not to lose or concede goals, even if I am the first to admit that I expected more.”

For its part, with its seventh draw of the season, Udinese strengthened its position in eleventh place with 40 points.

Como’s stumble played into Juventus’ favor, which achieved its sixteenth victory of the season at the expense of its guest, Genoa, by defeating them with two goals scored early in the first half.

Juventus struck from the fourth minute with a header from Brazilian Bremer, then American Weston McKennie added the second in the 17th minute after exchanging the ball with Portuguese Francisco Conceicao.

The Allianz Stadium fans believed that their team was on its way to a sweeping victory, but coach Luciano Spalletti’s men failed to reach the net again.

Genoa even had the opportunity to return, but they missed a penalty kick in the 75th minute after a foul by Bremer on Spaniard Aaron Martin, so he executed it himself, but was collided with the brilliance of goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, who entered at the beginning of the second half due to an injury to Mattia Perin.

Atalanta also benefited from Como’s faltering to remain in the struggle to participate in the Champions League, the competition that it left this season in the last 16 with a humiliating defeat against Bayern Munich, Germany, 2-10 on aggregate, with a great victory over its host, Lecce, who is threatened with relegation, with a clean triple scored by Giorgio Scalvini (29), Montenegrin Nikola Krstovic (59), and substitute Giacomo Raspadori (73).

Atalanta raised its score to 53 points in seventh place, 5 points behind Como, but two tough matches await it in the next two stages against two main competitors, Juventus and Roma, fifth and sixth, respectively.