Striker Mattia Destro rejected comparisons with Gonzalo Higuain but wouldn’t dismiss an Italy callup after netting twice in a 3-2 win for Bologna which dented Napoli’s Serie A title hopes on Sunday.
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However, Inter reclaimed first place with a 1-0 win against Genoa on Saturday and they are now two points clear of Napoli at the summit.
Destro hit his second on the hour and Bologna seemed to be out of sight, although Napoli came fighting back at the death when Gonzalo Higuain hit a brace to reduce arrears and set up a tense finale.
Bologna’s Mattia Destro in action against Faouzi Ghoulam of Napoli.
Napoli slumped to third in Serie A with a surprise 3-2 defeat to Bologna.
Fiorentina climbed above Napoli into second thanks to a comprehensive 3-0 home win over Udinese.
Napoli enjoyed a bright start but Bologna, who have enjoyed a renaissance since former Parma coach Roberto Donadoni took over from sacked Delio Rossi last month, soaked up the early pressure and were quickly into their stride.
Luca Rossettini headed Bologna’s second seven minutes later and Destro extended their lead on the hour. “We’d talked about all the potential pitfalls, the risk of arriving for this game with less concentration than needed”, he told Sky Sport Italia.
As the second half started, many thought we would see a different Napoli, one with less mistakes as they had made in the first half.
Higuain reduced arrears on 87 minutes when he flicked Insigne’s cross past Mirante and then again when he collected a Callejon long ball to fire past the ‘keeper from just inside the box.
“In order to stay top of the table, we need to mature”.
Fiorentina were not at their best against Udinese, but took the lead in the 26th minute when Badelj’s long-range effort took a deflection off Nikola Kalinic and rolled in past Orestis Karnezis.
In yesterday’s late game AC Milan laid seige to Carpi’s goal throughout but settled for a scoreless draw that left them in eighth, 10 points behind city rivals Inter.
Ilicic converted from the spot after Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu brought down Kalinic in the 62nd minute, before Rodriguez headed a Manuel Pasqual corner past Karnezis in the 86th.
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Atalanta leapfrogged Milan into seventh after defeating Palermo 3-0, Chievo beat Frosinone 2-0 with two goals in the final four minutes, while Empoli defeated Verona 1-0 away and Sampdoria fell to a fourth straight defeat with a 3-1 home loss to Sassuolo.
