Napoli move to second in Serie A with a 2-0 win at Lazio, who finished with nine men in Maurizio Sarri’s rapid return after heart surgery.
ROME: Napoli climbed to second in Serie A with a 2-0 win at Lazio on Sunday. The victory left the defending champions just one point behind leaders AC Milan.
The match marked a rapid return to the bench for Lazio’s 66-year-old coach Maurizio Sarri. He had undergone heart surgery just days earlier on Monday.
Antonio Conte’s Napoli secured a fifth win in six outings with both goals coming in the first half. Leonardo Spinazzola and Amir Rrahmani were the scorers in a bad-tempered contest.
Tempers flared in the pouring rain, resulting in three late red cards. Tijjani Noslin and Adam Marusic were sent off for Lazio, with Napoli’s Pasquale Mazzocchi also dismissed in the closing stages.
“I have to congratulate my team, playing against Lazio at the Olympic Stadium in this way, with so few technical errors, is something powerful,” said Conte.
His team now has exactly the same record at this stage of the season as it did in January 2025. Milan lead with 38 points to Napoli’s 37, but Inter Milan could leapfrog both with a win over Bologna later on Sunday.
