Napoli Edge Atalanta To Stretch Lead

Dries Mertens ended a long drought as he scored in Bergamo on Sunday as Napoli won 1-0 to stretch their advantage in Serie A to four points.

Napoli lost six points to Atalanta last season and this narrow victory represents a complete turn-around for Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli, who won 3-1 at home earlier in the season.

The leaders kicked off the weekend action as the Italian league resumed after a two-week break and grabbed the opportunity to create some daylight between themselves and Juventus, who play Genoa on Monday night.

Napoli lost just once in the first half of the season at home against Juventus, with the sides set to clash again on April 22 in Turin.

On Sunday Mertens, who had gone 908 minutes in Serie A without a goal, scored after 65 minutes, getting behind the defense and flashing a shot past goalie Etrit Berisha.

Atalanta responded with a brief bout of pressure and created one dangerous moment. Pepe Reina, in the Napoli goal, leapt to palm away a ferocious long-range drive from Bryan Cristante, but the visitors ended the game on top.

In added time Jorginho set up Marek Hamsik who slid the ball inside the far post. Referee Daniele Orsato gave a goal but changed his decision to offside after a video review.