Napoli kept pace with Serie A leaders Inter Milan thanks to a dominant 3-0 victory over relegation-threatened Empoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Monday night, April 14th. Scott McTominay scored twice and Romelu Lukaku added a goal and two assists in an impressive display from the hosts, although the win was tempered by an injury to defender Juan Jesus.
The victory ensures Napoli remain second in the table with 68 points, three points behind Inter Milan (71 points), with six rounds of the season remaining.
Napoli, with manager Antonio Conte back on the touchline after a ban, took control early. McTominay opened the scoring in the 18th minute; Lukaku held the ball up before feeding the Scottish midfielder, whose low, long-range shot skipped past Empoli goalkeeper Devis Vásquez.
Lukaku doubled the lead in the 56th minute, latching onto a perfect through ball from Mathías Olivera and finishing clinically. The Belgian striker then turned provider again in the 61st minute, delivering a cross from the right for McTominay to power home a header off the underside of the crossbar.
The McTominay-Lukaku partnership wreaked havoc, with McTominay also hitting the post after being set up by Lukaku again shortly after his second goal. Lukaku himself missed a late chance, sending a David Neres cross wide. McTominay was denied a hat-trick in the dying minutes, first by a stunning save from Vásquez and then by the offside flag.
“Romelu is a great teammate. He demands a lot from all the team and me to score more goals and create more opportunities for him to score as well,” McTominay told DAZN. On the title race, he added: “We must have fun and think about ourselves… We must think about ourselves and then we’ll see what Inter will do.”
Napoli’s comfortable evening was slightly marred when defender Juan Jesus limped off in the second half with what appeared to be a muscular injury.
Empoli remain second from bottom (19th) with 24 points, two points adrift of safety.7 Napoli face bottom club Monza away next Saturday, continuing what appears on paper to be a favourable run-in as they pursue the Scudetto.
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