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Napoli continue their charge towards the Serie A title with a win over Sassuolo thanks to goals from Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia.
Napoli started on the front foot and went ahead early, but did not have it all their way as Sassuolo regularly threatened their goal on counters. However, they grabbed a second through Victor Osimhen and managed to control the game in what ended as a comfortable 2-0 victory.
Sassuolo hosted league leaders Napoli at the Mapei Stadium as they looked to halt the progress of Luciano Spalletti's charges and pull themselves further away from the relegation places. It proved to be a pipe dream as the duo of Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia proved to be too much for the Neroverdi.
The Georgian magician Kvaratskhelia put the Partenopei ahead in the 12th minute of the game. The league leaders went close to making it two in the 27th minute, but Victor Osimhen's strike crashed the bar. The Nigerian would make it two soon enough with a well-taken strike in the 33rd minute.
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The home side pulled one back in the 40th minute off the boot of Armand Lauriente, but it was ruled out for offside. The second-half did not have the same fireworks as the first, but Giovanni Simeone thought he made it three in added time, but VAR ruled it out as offside.
How it happened
Napoli started as impressively as their season has been, and they got an answer to their early inquests when Kvaratskhelia picked up the ball in the middle of the pitch and weaved his way into the edge of the Sassuolo penalty area before using the opposition defender as a screen to send the goalkeeper the wrong way.
The goal served as a wake-up call for the home team, who began to apply themselves, creating two excellent scoring chances on the break. With both sides looking deadly on the counter, the game became broken. It was Napoli's turn to break through Osimhen, who bulldozed his way through Napoli's area before cutting inside his left foot to hit a low curler that struck the bar.
On his next attempt, the Nigerian held off two defenders after receiving a long pass from Amir Rrahmani before sprinting into the right half-space and unleashing a thunderous strike that beat Andrea Consigli in his near post.
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Sassuolo thought they pulled one back when Davide Frattesi found Lauriente with a lobbed through ball, but upon a VAR review, Gregoire Defrel was found to have interfered with play from an offside position, hence the goal was ruled out.
Napoli started the second-half the way they ended the first, and the flurry of attacks would have been rewarded with a third goal but for poor finishing from Osimhen. The frenzy cooled down, and the game changed gears into a more controlled affair as Napoli went into game management mode and Sassuolo partially resigned to a defeat.
The game came alive again in the dying moments, and substitute Simeone thought he made it three after he connected beautifully to a Hirving Lozano cross; however, the Mexican was found to be offside before crossing the ball, and the game ended at 2-0.
One hand on the Capocannoniere
The victory over Sassuolo puts Napoli 18 points clear at the top of Serie A, and the Partenopei are looking more and more like the champions-elect with each passing game.
As Napoli went clear at the top, Victor Osimhen also increased his lead at the top of the goalscorers chart by six goals. His strike in the 33rd minute of the game was his 18th of the season, with the next best being his compatriot Ademola Lookman and Inter's Lautaro Martinez, each on 12 goals.
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