Napoli had to be patient on their way to a 2-0 win against Atalanta in Serie A, which marks Gli Azzurri’s third consecutive head-to-head victory.Coming into this match off the back of just their second Serie A defeat this season, Napoli looked determined to get back to winning ways with plenty of early attacking intent on display. That attitude was typified by Matteo Politano, who hadn’t started any of the previous three across all competitions and saw an early effort saved by Juan Musso at the near post. Musso continued to do a stellar job of protecting his near post, making a strong stop to deny Khvicha Kvaratskhelia after the Georgian had danced his way into a shooting position.Paolo Maldini’s one proud dad! His boy Daniel scored against rivals InterEven so, Napoli weren’t at their blistering best and there was a slight sense of concern among the home support, with Politano being halted by the goalkeeper again after picking up a loose ball. There was also a blow for Atalanta, who lost Berat Djimsiti to injury shortly before the break, while Gian Piero Gasperini making two halftime substitutions offered an indication of what he thought of La Dea’s display up until that point.Victor Osimhen initially endured a frustrating start to the second half as he saw a superb acrobatic effort stopped by Musso, before uncharacteristically heading wide from a promising opportunity. However, the Nigerian played his role on the hour mark by feeding Kvaratskhelia for the moment that sent relief and jubilation flooding through the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in equal measure. In a scene reminiscent of Napoli’s Argentine hero, Kvaratskhelia was surrounded by opposition defenders but elegantly worked space for himself before smashing the ball past Musso for his 20th goal contribution in Serie A.Amir Rrahmani then added some breathing space with a header that drifted past Musso and into the bottom corner as normal service resumed for Napoli, who have now won nine of their last 10 Serie A matches and currently have an 18-point buffer atop the Serie A table. Meanwhile, Atalanta have endured three consecutive league games without scoring for the first time since October 2018.SERIE A – ROUND 26FridaySpezia – Inter 2-1 (0-0)/Maldini 55, Nzola 87 pen – Lukaku 83 pen/SaturdayEmpoli – Udinese 0-1 (0-0)/Rodrigo Becao 54/Napoli – Atalanta 2-0 (0-0)/Kvaratskhelia 60, Rrahmani 77/22:45: (3.10) Bologna (3.20) Lazio (2.60)Sunday14:30: (3.10) Lecce (3.00) Torino (2.75)17:00: (4.50) Cremonese (3.60) Fiorentina (1.94)17:00: (2.65) Verona (3.15) Monza (3.10)20:00: (1.79) Roma (3.70) Sassuolo (5.40)22:45: (1.41) Juventus (4.90) Sampdoria (11.0)Monday22:45: (1.30) Milan (6.00) Salernitana (11.0)***odds are subject to change***
