Juventus beat Napoli 3-0 at the Juventus Stadium on Sunday evening in Serie A to close the gap to leaders Roma to just a point.
Fernando Llorente gave Antonio Conte’s side the lead after just a minute which was doubled by an Andrea Pirlo free-kick in the second-half. Paul Pogba’s stunning volley completed a convincing victory for Juventus before Angelo Ogbonna was sent-off late on.
Juventus started with a high intensity and went close with just 45 seconds on the clock, Pogba denied by a fully-stretched Pepe Reina.
From the resulting corner the hosts took the lead. Mauricio Isla’s shot was deflected into the path of Llorente, via Carlos Tevez, who tapped home the opening goal from close range. Replays showed the Spanish striker was just offside.
Leonardo Bonucci should have doubled Juventus’ lead inside the first 10 minutes, but his close range header was brilliantly parried by the former Liverpool keeper.
Napoli failed to test the Juve goal until the 20 minute mark. First Lorenzo Insigne fired straight at Gigi Buffon from close range and then Gonzalo Higuain turned Ogbonna inside the box but couldn’t curl his effort on target.
Insigne continued to threaten for the away side. A quick change of direction fooled Andrea Barzagli inside the 18 yard area but his shot curled wide, and then the Italian U21 international skimmed the roof of the net from range with Buffon beaten. Just before a Llorente header was superbly blocked by Reina at his near post.
Rafa Benitez’s side started with a greater tempo after the restart and were awarded a free-kick just outside the box. Buffon was forced into a save from Insigne as a result.
Pressure continued to build inside the Juventus half and shortly after the hour mark Pablo Armero’s cross fell to an unmarked Marek Hamsik at the back post but he could only direct his half-volley into the side netting. Two minutes later Arturo Vidal hit the side netting too from a similar to position that Hamsik found himself in.
With around 15 minutes remaining the Bianconeri made it 2-0. Gokhan Inler gave away a foul 25-yards from goal for grappling with Tevez and Pirlo punished the Swiss midfielder with a wonderfully struck free-kick that rifled into the roof of Reina’s net.
Insigne had a glorious chance to bring Napoli right back into contention but his powerful shot was acrobatically saved by the strong wrist of Buffon.
Pogba then put the match to bed in emphatic fashion. The young French midfielder flicked up the ball on the edge of the Napoli box unintentionally before unleashing a beautifully struck volley that rattled in off the post.
Ten minutes before the end Ogbonna was dismissed for two bookable offences. The first was for blocking Reina as the Spanish keeper was trying to launch a quick counter attack and the second was for a pull-back on Dries Mertens.
Insigne was again denied by Buffon in stoppage time.
Juventus, with this victory, have now closed the gap to league leaders Roma to just a point while simultaneously moving three points clear of third-placed Napoli.
