Raspadori rocket keeps Napoli ahead in title race
Napoli remains three points clear at the top of Serie A thanks to a 1-0 victory over Lecce, with second-placed Inter Milan responding later in the day with a 1-0 win of its own against Hellas Verona.
Antonio Conte's team took advantage of playing before Inter to move briefly six points clear ahead of the Nerazzurri's clash.
That was cut back to three points as a Kristjan Asllani penalty gave Inter a narrow win that keeps the title very much in the balance.
Giacomo Raspadori was the matchwinner for Napoli at Stadio Ettore Giardiniero, slamming in a free-kick in the 24th minute.
Napoli had earlier had a Romelu Lukaku goal disallowed for offside, before the match was stopped because of flares being thrown onto the pitch.
Lecce battled hard for an equaliser, with Kialonda Gaspar hitting the crossbar and Thorir Helgason forcing a fine save out of Alex Meret, while Napoli also survived a video assistant referee (VAR) check for a potential penalty for handball.
Napoli, though, held firm to grind out a fourth straight league win.
Conte warned his side it must complete the job of winning the title to be remembered.
Having won titles with Juventus, Inter and Chelsea, leading a Napoli side that finished 10th in Serie A last season to glory would arguably be Conte's finest achievement yet.
"I will say that if and when it eventually happens," he said when asked if this would be his most memorable title win.
"Let's not talk about things we don't have yet. I have won and lost titles on the last day. I have the experience needed to make the guys understand the importance.
"Whoever wins, writes the history, the others, at most, they get to read about it. Nobody will remember us if we finish second."
Lecce may be battling relegation, but Conte was wary of facing a side that had drawn at Atalanta last time out in a match that was rescheduled after the death of Lecce physiotherapist Graziano Fiorita.
"It's a really important victory. It's not the most important, but it's important," Conte said.
"I was very afraid of this match because of many situations, also because Lecce came from a draw snatched by Atalanta.
"Unfortunately, there was also this misfortune that happened to a person I knew very well, just as I knew his father, who died a few years ago."
Conte praised his players for earning three points in the face of continued injury problems.
Defender Alessandro Buongiorno was its latest casualty this week and now looks set to miss the run-in with a groin injury.
"We arrived managing an emergency because everything seems normal, but today (Mathias) Olivera played as a central defender and it's the first time he has done that with me," Conte said.
"In the end, nobody talks about it, but (David) Neres is out, Buongiorno and Juan Jesus too.
"[Stanislav] Lobotka got hurt today, I hope he can recover because we are continuing to lose pieces, but we are not giving up.
"And this is the main quality of this team. We are on top of things and we want to continue until the end."
