Napoli defeated Palermo 2-0 at the Stadio San Paolo on Wednesday night, recording their fifth straight victory in Serie A in the process, a result that sends the Partenopei to second in the standings.
A late first half strike by Gonzalo Higuain and an 80th-minute low drive by substitute Dries Mertens were enough to seal all three points for the southern giants.
The Partenopei started the match brightly and had two early chances to take the lead. Marek Hamsik shot wide after four minutes and shortly after Higuain had a header saved by Stefano Sorrentino in the Rosanero goal.
Maurizio Sarri’s side continued to dominate possession for much of the half, but it wasn’t until the 37th minute the deadlock was nearly broken. A nice pass by Jorginho sent Lorenzo Insigne through on the left, but his low left-foot shot rebounded off the far post and back out to safety.
But just a moment later the Gli Azzurri did take a deserved lead, Hamsik found Higuain outside the box and the Argentine drove a powerful right-footed shot past Sorrentino into the net to give the home side the lead at the break.
The Rosanero did have a chance to equalize straight after the restart as Alberto Gilardino head just over from a corner in what was a rare attack from the away side.
On the hour mark, Higuain was unlucky not to double the home side’s lead when his shot hit the post and Jose Callejon’s follow-up was saved by Sorrentino.
Mertens replaced Insigne on 65 minutes and moments later struck the post after a mazy dribble before sealing the win with a low right-foot finish into the bottom corner.
Napoli now face a trip to Genoa on Sunday, while Palermo take on Empoli at the Stadio Renzo Barbera on Monday night.
