Napoli kept alive their Serie A
title hopes with a late surge to come from behind to beat
Chievo 2-1 on Sunday.
The hosts were 1-0 down until the 89th minute when Arkadiusz
Milik headed home an equaliser.
They then grabbed all three points thanks to stoppage-time
strike by Amadou Diawara.
With seven games to go, Napoli remain four points behind
champions Juve, who tamed a feisty challenge by bottom side
Benevento to win 4-2 on Saturday thanks to a hat-trick by Paul
Dybala.
Lazio came from behind to 2-1 at Udinese on Sunday and pull
level with city rivals AS Roma ahead of next week's derby in the
capital.
They both have 60 points, 11 fewer than Juve, after Roma lost
2-0 at home to Fiorentina on Saturday.
Inter dropped from fourth to fifth with a 1-0 defeat at
Torino.
Sixth-placed AC Milan were held to a 1-1 draw by 14th-placed
Sassuolo.
Napoli leaves it late to keep title hopes alive
Eds: Updates with more results, details, quotes. With AP Photos.
Rome
ROME (AP) - Napoli scored twice in the final two minutes for a
come-from-behind 2-1 win over Chievo Verona on Sunday that kept
the southern team's title hopes alive. Arkadiusz Milik connected
with a long pass from Lorenzo Insigne to head in the equalizer
in the 89th. Amadou Diawara then quic kly controlled the ball
and sent a curling shot inside the far post for the winner in
added time. It was the first goal in 69 Serie A appearances for
Diawara, a 20-year-old from Guinea who got a rare start in place
of the su spended Jorginho. "I dedicate this goal to my mother,
who died a year before I ca me to Italy, so she didn't get to
see me play in Serie A," Diaw ara said. Napoli moved back within
four points of Italian leader Juventus , which won 4-2 at
Benevento on Saturday. The leaders meet in two weeks. "We won a
game that we thoroughly deserved to win," Napoli coac h Maurizio
Sarri said. "It had seemed cursed, as we had 31 shot s on goal,
missed a penalty, hit the woodwork. It was one of th ose classic
games where the team does everything right and the ball won't go
in." "However, at the end they kept pushing and the logical
conclusi on was to win the match." Sarri said he was
"particularly pleased" that the goals were sc ored by Milik -
who recently returned from his second long-term knee injury in
two seasons - and Diawara. Mariusz Stepinski had put Chievo
ahead in the 73rd after being set up by Emanuele Giaccherini,
who was loaned by Napoli in Jan uary. Earlier, Dries Mertens had
a penalty blocked by Chievo goalkeep er Stefano Sorrentino, who
has now saved three of his last four penalties. Also, Napoli's
Lorenzo Tonelli hit the crossbar. Napoli is aiming for its first
Serie A title since Diego Marado na led the club to its only two
championships in 1987 and 1990. ___ IMMOBILE'S RECORD Ciro
Immobile scored one goal and set up another in Lazio's 2-1 win
at Udinese and set a club record with his 27th goal of the
season. After Kevin Lasagna's opener for Udinese, Immobile
equalized fr om close range. The Italy striker eclipsed the club
record for goals in a singl e season, which he had shared with
Hernan Crespo and Giuseppe S ignori on 26 each. Still before the
break, Immobile's through ball set up Luis Alb erto's winner.
Lazio moved ahead of Roma and Inter Milan into third place amid
a tight race for the top four and Champions League berths. Lazio
hosts Roma in the Rome derby next weekend. Udinese has lost
eight straight. ___ SIRIGU SAVES In the lunchtime fixture,
Torino beat visiting Inter 1-0 with a first-half goal from Adem
Ljajic and a strong performance from goalkeeper Salvatore
Sirigu. Inter winger Ivan Perisic lost control and then
involuntarily s et up Lorenzo De Silvestri, who placed the ball
at the far post for Ljajic to tap in. Inter dropped to fifth,
one point behind Lazio and Roma. AC Milan remained sixth after a
1-1 draw at home with Sassuolo. Nikola Kalinic equalized for
Milan with four minutes remaining after Matteo Politano had put
Sassuolo ahead. Kalinic received a pass in the center of the
area, controlled t he ball, then turned around and hit the
target. ___ OTHER MATCHES Relegation-threatened Crotone beat
Bologna 1-0 with an early go al from Simeon "Simy" Tochukwu
Nwankwo. Hellas Verona, in penultimate place, defeated Cagliari
1-0 with a penalty from Romulo.
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