LECCE, Italy (Reuters) – A late goal by halftime substitute Nicolo Fagioli earned Juventus a 1-0 victory at Lecce on Saturday, as Massimiliano Allegri’s side took their third consecutive win in Serie A.
Fagioli sealed the win for the visitors in the 73rd minute when his curled shot from the edge of the box bounced in from the right post, after an assist by Samuel Iling-Junior who came on to the pitch one minute earlier.
Lecce came close to levelling shortly before the final whistle but midfielder Morten Hjulmand hit the left post with his fine strike.
Juventus provisionally moved two places up to sixth in the standings on 22 points, one ahead of Inter — who host Sampdoria later on Saturday — and Udinese, who travel to bottom-placed Cremonese on Sunday.
Osimhen hits hat-trick as Napoli thrash Sassuolo to keep up unbeaten streak
Oct 29 (Reuters) – Victor Osimhen struck a hat-trick as Napoli extended their unbeaten Serie A run to 16 matches on Saturday with a 4-0 thrashing of Sassuolo.
Osimhen put Napoli ahead in the fourth minute after latching onto a pass from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and flicked it into the net.
The 23-year-old Nigerian made it 2-0 in the 19th minute when he connected to another pass from Kvaratskhelia and fired the ball behind Sassuolo keeper Andrea Consigli.
Kvaratskhelia continued the rout in the 36th minute before Osimhen completed his hat-trick in the 77th minute by intercepting a poor Sassuolo pass and lobbed the ball over Consigli.
“Congratulations to the team, I am happy to contribute to this win. Of course it is good to have as many goals as this, I want to keep the momentum going,” Osimhen told DAZN.
“This season the coach has given me as much confidence as I can get. I am really happy to rely on him giving me the maximum confidence. I have just returned from five weeks out, which is not easy, and it is important to get really integrated with the team.”
Sassuolo ended a miserable day with Armand Lauriente being sent off in the 84th minute after he picked up a second yellow card.
Napoli have a six-point lead in Serie A with 32 points from 12 games. They are six points ahead of second-placed AC Milan, who face Torino on Sunday. Sassuolo are ninth with 15 points.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
Reuters
