Giacomo Raspadori fired Napoli to the brink of their first Serie A title in over three decades on Sunday with his stoppage-time winner in a 1-0 triumph at Juventus which was packed with late drama.
Italy international Raspadori lashed home a brilliant volley from Eljif Elmas’s cross in the 92nd minute of a pulsating encounter in Turin to push Napoli 17 points ahead of second-placed Lazio, who lost at home to Torino on Saturday.
Raspadori’s late winner means that Napoli can win Serie A for the first time since 1990 next weekend if they beat Salernitana and Lazio fail to win at Inter Milan.
Juve stay third on the table, where they rose to on Thursday following the decision to revoke their 15-point penalty for illicit transfer activity.
However, they await a new ruling from the Italian Football Federation’s (FIGC) appeals court to see if they will be handed a new points penalty, a decision which will have a big impact on Serie A’s race for the Champions League.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side thought they had snatched the points for themselves when substitute Angel Di Maria netted a brilliant solo effort with eight minutes remaining, only for referee Michael Fabbri to then rule it out for a foul on Stanislav Lobotka which Juve were convinced was a good tackle.
By that point, Victor Osimhen should have already put Napoli ahead through one of the three golden chances he missed midway through the second half.
First, he clipped the outside of the post in the 70th minute following great work from Eljif Elmas and then headed a great opportunity straight at Wojciech Szczesny from the subsequent corner.
The away fans then had their heads in their hands three minutes later when Osimhen was brilliantly fed by Giovanni DI Lorenzo but could only smash his close-range finish over the bar.
However after Di Maria had another goal chalked off for the ball going out of play and Osimhen miscontrolled when clean through on goal, Raspadori popped up to take Napoli to potentially one match from fulfilling the dream of a generation of fans.
Elsewhere, Milan’s Rafael Leão scored twice to earn a 2-0 home win over Lecce in the race for a top-four spot.
Internazionale returned to winning ways with a 3-0 win at Empoli on Sunday after second-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martínez ended their five-match winless run in the league.
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