Serie A champions defeated by Juventus
Napoli are now nine points adrift in the Serie A title race after Scott McTominay and Co were soundly beaten 3-0 by Juventus.
The defending champions were taken apart at the Allianz Stadium in Turin by the hosts, who moved to within a single point of Napoli. Gli Azzurri sit fourth in the standings on 43 points, with Juventus in fifth on 42. Internazionale remain top on 52 and Antonio Conte’s men will need to improve drastically to bridge the gap.
McTominay once again played the full match for Napoli but the Scotland internationalist was unable to influence proceedings. It was a frustrating afternoon for the visitors, with on-loan Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund once again unable to make an impact. While his parent club were beating Arsenal 3-2 in London, Hojlund spurned two chances that came his way. The Dane has not scored for Napoli since December 28.
Scott McTominay and Napoli couldn't find a way through against Juventus.placeholder image
Scott McTominay and Napoli couldn't find a way through against Juventus. | AFP via Getty Images
Veteran Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku made his return from injury for the final 12 minutes, but by that point the game was done. Juve were 2-0 up after an opener from Jonathan David and a second from Kenan Yildiz. Filip Kostic added a third on 86 minutes.
Napoli remain without another Scotland internationalist in Billy Gilmour, while playmaker Kevin de Bruyne is also sidelined by injury. They welcome Chelsea to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday night and need a win to maintain their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League play-offs.
Conte accepted the defeat and reiterated that Napoli will do everything in their power to retain the Scudetto - even with their injury problems.
Conte says Napoli ‘won’t jump off ship’
"My impression is that, as long as the match was 1-0, it was a balanced game and there was a perception that something could happen to get a draw,” said Conte. “Then, after we conceded the second goal, they opened up a bit of space and then scored the third. Kudos to them, but also to my boys, because there's little to say, little to blame on this group, who, even here in Turin, gave their all.
“Then there are times you manage to overcome the obstacle, other times you don't. For the first time in my career, I brought on a player [Giovane] I'd never even seen in training, who is young, who arrived on Saturday for the training camp. This also gives us a little insight into the situation we're experiencing.
“But we know this situation exists, we can't give up, we have to keep going. We know we're sailing in open seas with really high waves, but we're not getting off the boat, and if anyone wants to get off, they can get off, jump overboard, and then maybe reach the shore.
“We're staying there, strong in the knowledge that we still want to fight with all our strength, knowing that this is a situation with unforeseen events.”
Lewis Ferguson scored against Bologna - but Genoa came back to win 3-2.placeholder image
Lewis Ferguson scored against Bologna - but Genoa came back to win 3-2. | Getty Images
Elsewhere in the Italian top flight, it was also a painful afternoon for another Scotland midfielder in Lewis Ferguson, who despite scoring the opening goal for Bologna went down to a 3-2 defeat away at Genoa.
Fresh from drawing 2-2 with Celtic on Thursday night, Bologna netted on 35 minutes through Ferguson with a low shot from outside the penalty box and doubled their advantage on 47 minutes thanks to a Sebastian Otoa own goal.
Read More
However, Bologna’s fortunes turned when goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski was sent off for bringing down Vitinha outside the box and Genoa rallied, scoring three goals in half-an-hour through Ruslan Malinovskyi (62), Caleb Ekuban (78) and Junior Messias (90+1).
Bologna sit eighth in Serie A after the reversal at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.