Serie A: Napoli beat Lazio 4-3, Udinese lose
Serie A: Napoli beat Lazio 4-3, Udinese lose
Edinson Cavani scored a hat trick as Napoli rallied to beat Lazio 4-3.

Milan: Napoli rallied to beat Lazio 4-3 on Sunday and move above Inter Milan into second place in Serie A.

Edinson Cavani scored a hat trick to complete the comeback two minutes from time. Earlier, Stefano Mauri and Andre Dias had given Lazio a 2-0 lead before Andrea Dossena and Cavani brought Napoli level.

An own goal from Salvatore Aronica put Lazio ahead 3-2, before Cavani scored two late goals to give Napoli victory. Cavani is now the equal top scorer in Serie A with 25 goals, along with Udinese's Antonio Di Natale.

Napoli is second, three points behind AC Milan, with Inter a further two behind in third.

"The way we played, we deserved it," Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri said. "It seemed like we were jinxed out there. The first (Lazio) goal came after a lucky rebound, then at 2-0 it appeared all over, but we came back fantastically. We kept going and had a great game."

Lazio midfielder Cristian Brocchi had a goal disallowed with the score level at 2-2 despite his long-range shot appearing to go over the line.

"Our approach was the same as it always is, to try to win and give our all in every game we play," Cavani said. "If we do that, then we can start to think about the championship."

Udinese missed the chance to close to within two points of Inter, but stays fourth after losing 2-0 at Lecce, which moves out of the relegation zone.

Andrea Bertolacci opened the scoring in the 48th, then added a second in the 65th when he turned in Jeda's cross from close range.

Napoli took time to find its rhythm and it wasn't until the 22nd that it had its first chance. Ezequiel Lavezzi played in Marek Hamsik, but Fernando Muslera pushed his low shot away for a corner from a tight angle.

Lazio grabbed the lead in the 29th. Mauri brushed off weak challenges by Michele Pazienza and Paolo Cannavaro and flicked a shot past Morgan De Sanctis.

The Lazio captain nearly doubled his tally minutes later when Brocchi played him through, but he clipped the ball wide of the far post with only De Sanctis to beat.

The Rome side grabbed a second in the 56th when Dias volleyed in Javier Garrido's free kick from close range.

Napoli got a goal back in the 60th when Lazio's Giuseppe Sculli inadvertently flicked on Lavezzi's free kick and Dossena headed in at the far post.

By the 62nd, Napoli was level as Lazio's failure to defend set pieces continued. This time Dias diverted Lavezzi's kick before Christian Maggio headed back into the box for Cavani to nod in from close range.

Giuseppe Mascara then squandered a chance to give Napoli the lead when he shot straight at Muslera after slipping behind Lazio's defense.

Brocchi then fired a shot against the bar and, despite replays showing that the ball had bounced over the line, no goal was given.

"You can see clearly that the shot went over the line," Lazio president Claudio Lotito said. "We have taken note of what happened today and if things continue like this then there will be consequences."

Lazio continued to press and regained the lead. Mauro Zarate's low shot was saved but Salvatore Aronica turned the ball into his own net as he tried to clear.

Lazio's Giuseppe Biava was sent off when he brought down Cavani in the area and the Uruguayan brought Napoli level from the spot in the 82nd.

With two minutes to go he completed Napoli's comeback by coolly lobbing the ball over Muslera after Mascara had headed the ball behind Lazio's defense.

"It is clear that when you come to Napoli and score three goals, you shouldn't lose the game," Lazio coach Edy Reja said. "The penalty was generous and there are some things that I didn't like, though we kept our shape well."

Also Sunday, it was: Catania 4, Palermo 0; Cesena 2, Fiorentina 2; Chievo Verona 0, Sampdoria 0; Genoa 0, Cagliari 1; and Parma 1, Bari 2.

What's your reaction?

Comments

https://chuka-chuka.com/assets/images/user-avatar-s.jpg

0 comment

Write the first comment for this!