Napoli Reclaim Serie A Top Spot With Narrow Win Over Udinese
The Azzurri consolidated their grip of top spot in the Serie A standings with a narrow win away to Udinese.
OMNISPORT
Napoli took back top spot in Serie A as a fortunate first-half goal from Jorginho secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Udinese.
Inter's victory at Cagliari on Saturday had edged Luciano Spalletti's side into first place, but Napoli ensured the Nerazzurri's lead was short-lived with a battling performance at Friuli.
In a first half of few chances, it was not until the half-hour that Napoli made a breakthrough when veteran defender Christian Maggio went down under pressure from Gabriele Angella in Udinese's area.
Jorginho had converted all three of his previous penalties this season, but - after a lengthy delay - he saw a tame effort saved by Simone Scuffet.
However, the ball fell back to the Italy midfielder and he tucked home on the rebound..
Napoli should have put the result beyond all doubt with just over 15 minutes remaining, only for Jose Callejon to drill a close-range strike straight at Scuffet.
Ultimately though, Callejon's miss mattered little, as Napoli saw off their hosts to move two points clear of Inter - with Pepe Reina making a good save from Antonin Barak late on.
Napoli's win makes it 21 away games unbeaten in Serie A, while Udinese remain in 14th place - just two points clear of the relegation places.