Napoli claim fifth win in a row by beating SPAL

Rome, June 29

Sixth-placed Napoli claimed their fifth consecutive Serie A victory when they easily beat relegation-threatened visitors SPAL 3-1 on Sunday.

Dries Mertens, Jose Maria Callejon and Amin Younes all found the back of the net to put Gennaro Gattuso’s side on 45 points from 28 games, three points adrift of fifth-placed AS Roma who lost 2-0 at AC Milan earlier on Sunday.

SPAL equalised in the first half through Andrea Petagna but they could not sustain the pace at the San Paolo.

They are now bottom of the table on 18 points, eight points from the safety zone with 10 games left.

SPAL next host Milan while Napoli, already guaranteed a place in the Europa League thanks to their Coppa Italia triumph, travel to in-form Atalanta, who are fourth on 57 points and occupy the last Champions League qualifying spot.

Milan sink Roma with late goals as teams struggle in the heat

Milan: AC Milan scored twice in the last quarter of an hour to sink AS Roma 2-0 in a slow-paced Serie A match on Sunday as both teams struggled in the San Siro heat.

The match kicked off at 1715 local time with the temperature around 32 Celsius and, although the pitch was almost entirely in the shade, the conditions clearly affected both teams.

After an entirely forgettable first half, Milan, still missing forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a calf injury, finally stirred into life after the break as Hakan Calhanoglu and Lucas Paqueta forced saves from Antonio Mirante.

The hosts broke through in the 76th minute when Franck Kessie’s shot was saved at close range by Mirante and the ball rebound to Ante Rebic. His first shot struck the post but the ball came straight back to him and he scored at the second attempt.

Calhanoglu converted a penalty in the 89th minute to give Milan their second straight win since the restart of Serie A. They stayed seventh with 48 points, sixth behind fifth-placed Roma.

Inter stage late fightback to stun Parma

Parma: Third-placed Inter Milan scored twice in the last six minutes through Stefan De Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni to snatch a 2-1 win at Parma in Serie A on Sunday despite a subdued display.

The scarcely-deserved victory left Inter eight points behind leaders Juventus and four adrift of second-placed Lazio with 10 games each to play.

Gervinho put Parma ahead with a solo goal in the 15th minute and, after a subdued display, Inter suddenly burst into life when defender De Vrij headed an equaliser and substitute Bastoni grabbed the winner three minutes later.

Inter had reserve goalkeeper Tommaso Berni shown the red card and ordered from the bench for dissent in the second half — his second dismissal of a season in which he has yet to make an appearance on the pitch.

Inter coach Antonio Conte was suspended for accumulation of yellow cards and his side, held to a 3-3 draw at home by Sassuolo on Wednesday, seemed to miss the ranting of their fiery manager on the touchline.

They fell behind when Gervinho got to the byline, cut back inside to leave one defender on the ground then drove a low shot past Samir Handanovic.

Andreas Cornelius, scorer of a hat-trick in Parma’s 4-1 midweek win at Genoa, missed two good chances to extend their lead as they pulled Inter’s defence apart.

Inter pushed Parma back after the break but the home defence, expertly marshalled by 38-year-old Bruno Alves, rarely looked like being breached except when Alexis Sanchez forced a rare save from Luigi Sepe.

But six minutes from time, Lautaro Martinez headed a corner back into the area and De Vrij flicked it past Luigi Sepe to level.

Parma had Juraj Kucka sent off for dissent, lost concentration and left Bastoni unmarked to head in from a cross by fellow substitute Victor Moses three minutes later. — Reuters