Napoli moves into top four after win at Salernitana
Defending champion Napoli climbed into Serie A’s top four after a deserved 2-0 win at Salernitana.
The reigning champion has endured a stuttering start to its title defence but closed the gap on the leaders after this result.
Giacomo Raspadori’s first-half goal and Elif Elmas’s late strike extended Napoli’s unbeaten run to four games in all competitions.
It is a mini resurgence for Rudi Garcia’s side after successive defeats to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League and Fiorentina in Serie A last month.
Defeat saw Salernitana slip to a 12th game without a win to set an unwanted record of its longest winless run in Serie A. It remains rock bottom of the table with four points from its opening 12 games.
Napoli remains without the injured Victor Osimhen, in Nigeria having been granted time off by the club, but Italy striker Raspadori scored in his third straight game to ease the pressure on the champions.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had already gone close, firing wide from the edge of the box, before Raspadori put Napoli in front after 13 minutes when he collected Stanislav Lobotka’s pass and rifled in from 10 yards.
It continued his good form after goals against Union Berlin in the UEFA Champions League and in last week’s 2-2 draw against AC Milan.
Matteo Politano almost added a second two minutes later but Guillermo Ochoa turned his drive over after the winger had cut inside.
Raspadori went close to doubling the visitors’ lead when he forced Ochoa into a smart stop before Politano hit the outside of a post from 20 yards.
Salernitana had not beaten Napoli since it was both in Serie B in 2002 and Ochoa kept the visitors at bay.
The goalkeeper turned Piotr Zielinski’s volley from the edge of the box wide just after the hour.
Yet he did need Lorenzo Pirola to stop Politano making it 2-0 with a crucial close-range block.
Raspadori was withdrawn with 22 minutes left as Garcia sensed victory was close and a flurry of substitutions upset the game’s rhythm until eight minutes from time.
Salernitana’s hopes of a comeback and a valuable point in its battle against the drop were ended by Elmas.
The substitute wrapped up the points for the visitors when he took the ball from Mathias Olivera and found the bottom corner from 15 yards, despite Ochoa getting a hand to the strike.
