Napoli are back atop the Serie A standings after easing past Benevento 2-0 at the Stadio Ciro Vigorito.
Dries Mertens opened the scoring, while Marek Hamsik added a second after the restart to keep the Azzurri one point ahead of Juventus – who crushed Sassuolo 7-0 earlier in the day.
It wasn’t all positive for Napoli however, as Mertens was forced off in the closing stages – an injury Maurizio Sarri hopes won’t keep him out of next week’s crucial clash with Lazio.
Benevento were quick out of the gates as Marco D’Alessandro’s cross was volleyed by Enrico Brignola, but his effort failed to hit the target.
Napoli finally showed signs of life in the 14th minute when Lorenzo Insigne’s lob beat Christian Puggioni, but not the crossbar to keep the score at 0-0.
Hamsik fired a great chance over the bar, before Mertens finally opened the scoring after 21 minutes. The Belgian may have been trying to cross for Insigne, but the lob found it’s way past Puggioni from an improbable angle to give the away side the advantage.
The Benevento goalkeeper pushed another Mertens shot just over the bar, and it nearly proved decisive as the home side should have levelled the score.
Enrico Brignola led the counter and found an unmarked Berat Djimsiti, but he managed to fire wide of the mark from 12 yards out.
Napoli made them pay for it immediately after the restart when Hamsik doubled the scoreline.
Allan won the ball and found Jose Callejon, and the Spaniard’s through ball was pushed into the back of the net by the Azzurri captain.
Benevento were handed a lifeline when Kalidou Koulibaly took down Andrea Costa in the penalty box, however after consulting VAR, referee Marco Di Bello went back on his penalty decision due to Sandro being in an offside position.
It was nearly 3-0 minutes later when Callejon looked certain to header home, but Costa managed to block the Spaniard’s effort.
The lone blemish for Napoli came with 15 minutes remaining, when Mertens’ was forced off and replaced by Marko Rog after clashing with Djimsiti.
Callejon fired wide of the mark in injury time, while Reina was sharp and denied a late Coda strike to preserve his clean sheet and add another three points to Napoli’s title challenge.
Next up for Napoli is a home clash with Lazio, while Benevento travel to take on Roma.
MATCH FACTS
- Napoli have gained 60 points: the last team to gain more points in the first 23 Serie A games were Inter Milan in 2006/07 (63).
- Benevento instead have gained only 7 points; to gain less points in the first 23 Serie A games were Ancona in 2003/04 (6).
- Napoli have won last 7 Serie A games; in five of these matches the Partenopei have scored at least two goals.
- Napoli have kept the clean sheet for 3 away league games in a row; in the last six league matches played on the road, the Partenopei have conceded only one goal.
- Considering also the reverse fixture, Napoli won with an aggregate score of 8-0 against Benevento in Serie A current season.
- Tonight Benevento fired 14 shots, in the reverse fixture against Napoli they fired only 6.
- This is the first Serie A goal scored by Hamsik in the second half this season; last four were all scored in the first half.
- Dries Mertens has scored four goals in the last three Serie A games, after failing to score in previous nine league appearances.
- Marco D’Alessandro played his 100th Serie A games tonight.
