Napoli kept their quest for the Champions League next season alive with a two-nil win over Fiorentina in Serie A on Sunday.
A second-half strike from captain Lorenzo Insigne and an own-goal from Lorenzo Venuti meant that Napoli remain in control of their Champions League destiny with one game left to play.
Juventus’ 3-2 win over Inter Milan on Saturday meant that the visitors travelled to Florence needing to win to ensure that they could still finish within the top four. Despite what appeared to be a frustrating afternoon, they overcame their hosts to remain in control of the top-four battle.
Gattuso’s men began the game in the better of the two teams but could not take the lead during the first half, which had been pretty frustrating for Champions League aspirant. Goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano in the Fiorentina goal kept out Piotr Zielinski’s strike before Insigne’s free-kick in the 34th minute rattled the bar in the first half that also saw Dusan Vlahovic’s header for Fiorentina ruled out for offside.
But after the restart, Napoli found their breakthrough when they were awarded a penalty in the 57th minute following a VAR review.
Insigne stepped up to convert, bundling home the rebound after his initial shot was saved. Meanwhile, Fiorentina substitute Bartlomiej Dragowski was shown a straight red card for his reaction to the penalty decision to hand the home team a numerical advantage.
The visitors doubled their advantage in the 67th minute when Zielinski first-time strike took a big deflection off Lorenzo Venuti on its way in to wrap up all three points for Napoli.
The win means that Gennaro Gattuso’s men sit on 76 points—one point ahead of AC Milan and Juventus in fourth and fifth, respectively.
They will be guaranteed a place in next season’s Champions League if they win their final game of the season at home to Hellas Verona next Sunday.
Fiorentina play Crotone next Sunday in what is their final game of the season.
