Napoli’s Serie A title hopes received a huge boost with a 2-1 win against Fiorentina, in turn securing their first H2H league double since 2020/21.
Owing to a five-match winless run, Napoli have relinquished their advantage in the Serie A title race, so this clash with Fiorentina had a must-win feel to it. It was already Antonio Conte’s longest wait for a win across Europe’s traditional top-five leagues, so it was little surprise to see the hosts fly out of the traps in search of redemption.
They created a golden opportunity to take the lead when Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s cross found the unmarked Giacomo Raspadori in the area, but his tame effort was straight at David de Gea.
The former Manchester United stopper was forced to work a little harder to deny his ex-Old Trafford teammate Scott McTominay midway through the first half, but he could only push his stinging drive into the path of another former United teammate, Romelu Lukaku, who gratefully tapped into an empty net.
De Gea was soon back to his best to deny Leonardo Spinazzola and Raspadori as half time approached, but he was fortunate not to be picking the ball out of the back of his net soon before the break when Di Lorenzo crashed an effort against the crossbar.
De Gea bailed Fiorentina out again after the interval when he denied Raspadori at the near post, but there was a growing sense that a second goal was coming soon.
That strike duly arrived seconds before the hour mark, and it was little surprise that it was Raspadori who found it, taking Lukaku’s deft pass in his stride and arrowing an effort past a helpless De Gea.
La Viola had shown few signs throughout the game that suggested they’d find a way back into the clash, but they managed to magic up something out of nothing when Moise Kean’s deft flick teed up Albert Guðmundsson, who fired home from 25 yards.
That set up a nervy ending for the hosts, but they were never truly placed under too much pressure, with a Kean effort from all of 30 yards which was high, wide and handsome, somewhat symptomatic of the struggles the visitors faced all afternoon.
Conte’s men were untroubled in seeing out a first win since January, but the scoreline should’ve been more comfortable as Giovanni Simeone missed a one-on-one in stoppage time.
As for Fiorentina, they missed the chance to win consecutive Serie A away games against Napoli for the first time since October 1995.