ITALY: Napoli 4 - 2 Lazio
trick sees Benitez's men emerge
victorious
The former Real Madrid attacker netted
twice to help the hosts to a vital win in
the race for Champions League
football.
Napoli have recorded a 4-2 win over Lazio in
Sunday afternoon's Serie A encounter at the
Stadio San Paolo.
Senad Lulic gave the away side the lead
halfway through the first half, but Dries
Mertens restored parity shortly before the
interval. Lorik Cana was then sent off before
Gonzalo Higuain netted a hat-trick to help
the hosts to victory, with Ogenyi Onazi's late
goal serving as little more than a consolation
strike.
Napoli started the match with attacking
intentions, yet it was the hosts who drew
first blood after 20 minutes of play. Stefano
Mauri set up Lulic with a fine pass and the
midfielder beat Pepe Reina with a superb
finish to make it 1-0.
The hosts came close to levelling the
scorings again shortly after when Goran
Pandev reached Higuain, but the Argentine
was denied by a superb save from Etrit
Berisha.
There was little the Albanian goalkeeper
could do about Mertens ' equaliser in the
42nd minute, though. The Belgium
international collected a Raul Albiol pass
before trying his luck from outside the area
and left Berisha no chance with his powerful
shot.
The former PSV winger again played a big
role shortly after the break when he won a
penalty after being fouled by Cana, with the
latter receiving his second yellow card of the
game for his action. Higuain stepped up and
had no trouble finding the net from 12 yards.
Things got even worse for Lazio halfway
through the second half as Higuain doubled
his personal tally to hand Napoli a two-goal
lead in the 67th minute. The prolific striker
shook off Stefan Radu after being set up by
Lorenzo Insigne and kept his calm in front of
Berisha to make it 3-1.
Lazio were not giving up, however, and were
rewarded for their efforts in the closing
stages of the game when Onazi pegged one
back, but it was too little, too late for the
guests and Higuain eventually put the match
to bed well into stoppage time with his third
goal of the game.
Rafa Benitez's men remain third in Serie A
with 67 points from 33 games, while Lazio
sit seventh in the league table with 48 points.
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