Serie A: Lukaku strikes late as Napoli edge past Atalanta

Romelu Lukaku bagged a late winner as Napoli beat Atalanta 3-2 in the Serie A on Saturday night at the Gewiss Stadium.

Mateo Retegui, who is a strong candidate for the Serie A Golden Boot, fired the hosts ahead in the 16th minute with an explosive left-footed strike.

Matteo Politano then equalised for Napoli in the 27th minute after a fortunate deflection found the Italian inside the box.

Former Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay gave the visitors the lead five minutes before the break, steering Frank Anguissa’s cutback into the back of the net.

The Nerazzurri levelled matters 10 minutes into the second half through Nigerian international Ademola Lookman, who wriggled his way past the Napoli defence before firing into the bottom corner.

The fiercely contested encounter was, however, decided in the 78th minute when Anguissa’s cross into the area met the onrushing Lukaku, who headed the ball beyond the reach of Atalanta shot-stopper Marco Carnesecchi.

After securing a sixth consecutive league win, Napoli remain top of the league with 50 points — six ahead of second-placed Inter Milan, who have two games in hand.

Having suffered defeat to Atalanta in the first half of the season, Napoli head coach Antonio Conte expressed pride in his team’s remarkable progress.

“I had already said before the match that this team has grown a lot,” Conte said.

“Don’t forget that just over two months ago, Atalanta put three goals past us at home. This was a very different game in every way.

“The team has above all grown in dealing with difficulties, that is what I want to underline.”

Winless in their last four matches, defeat leaves Atalanta third on table with 43 points — seven behind the leaders.

Speaking to the press after the match, Gian Piero Gasperini couldn’t hide his disappointment at the result.

“This is a defeat we struggle to swallow considering the way we played and the statistics, but this is football,” the Atalanta boss said.

“It takes nothing away from the quality of Napoli, but it is difficult to accept.

“We play every three days, there might be some performances where you don’t give your best, but in the last few weeks we have played Lazio, Juventus, Inter and Napoli, so the very best in Italian football.

“It’s fine, we have to focus on our journey and perhaps today we paid a heavy price, in other games we were luckier, but overall I saw a great performance.”

Atalanta will host Sturm Graz in the Champions League on Tuesday, and the Italians are -625 favourites with soccer betting sites to win.

Meanwhile, Napoli will face Juventus in the Serie A next Saturday, and online bookmakers are paying +112 for the Azzurri to triumph at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

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