Neres double puts Napoli back on top on Serie A
Defending champion Napoli moved provisionally top of the Serie A standings after a 3-1 home win over Atalanta, with David Neres scoring a first-half double to send the host on its way to a largely comfortable victory.
Antonio Conte's side had lost top spot after earning one point from its past two games but proved too strong for an Atalanta side which had Raffaele Palladino in charge for the first time since replacing Ivan Juric, sacked after a seven-match winless streak in the league.
Napoli looked full of energy from the off and took the lead in the 17th minute.
Rasmus Hojlund's perfectly weighted flicked pass sent Neres racing through on goal and he kept his cool to steer his shot beyond keeper Marco Carnesecchi.
Neres doubled Napoli's lead seven minutes before the interval, this time Scott McTominay providing the assist, and the Brazilian's first-time shot nestled in the far bottom corner of the net.
Napoli was 3-0 up and looked out of sight by the break when Noa Lang powered in a header on the stroke of half-time before Palladino sent on Gianluca Scamacca for the second half and the striker pulled one goal back in the 52nd minute.
Raoul Bellanova sent a cross into the box which Scamacca volleyed home to keep the visitors in the game and they continued to pile on the pressure while Napoli was content to sit back and collect the three points.
Conte's Napoli is on 25 points, one ahead of Inter Milan, AS Roma and Bologna.
Inter faces neighbour AC Milan on Monday (AEDT), with Roma at Cremonese, while Bologna won 3-0 at Udinese.
Atalanta remains 13th in the standings on 13 points.
