Napoli were held to a 2-2 draw at Lazio on Saturday after Boulaye Dia scored late on as the Italian Serie A leaders thought they were set to move four points clear of Inter Milan. Senegal attacker Dia rolled home a smart low finish in the 87th minute in Rome to deny Napoli victory and give Inter a chance to move top of the pile with a win at Juventus on Sunday. Champions Inter are two points behind Napoli, who have drawn three matches in a row and have failed to beat Lazio in three matches this season, ahead of that clash between fierce rivals in Turin.

“Lazio are our bogey team… we should be proud of what we’re doing and make sure that we always come off the field with our jerseys soaked in sweat,” said Napoli coach Antonio Conte.

Conte had to deal with the absence of three left-sided players with David Neres, Leonardo Spinazzola and Mathias Olivera all injured, and switched Napoli to a three-man defence with Pasquale Mazzocchi coming in as a makeshift wing-back.

And his injury problems got worse when Alessandro Buongiorno, who played for the first time in 2025 after recovering from a back injury, had to be replaced by Matteo Politano near the hour mark and Mazzocchi asked to substituted with five minutes remaining.

“When Mazzocchi asked to be taken off it caused us a big problem because I had to put (central defender) Rafa Marin at full-back,” added Conte.

“But I can’t ask any more from these boys because what they are doing is extraordinary.”

Lazio battle

Napoli looked to be collecting a big three points when Adam Marusic scored a bizarre own goal in the 64th minute, the defender sticking out his left foot to block Giacomo Raspadori’s deflected drive only to somehow chip it past goalkeeper Ivan Provedel and into his own net.

It was Raspadori who drilled Napoli level in the 13th minute following a neat exchange of passes with Romelu Lukaku, cancelling out Gustav Isaksen’s thumping early opener for Lazio.

Hosts Lazio briefly thought they had levelled the scores moments later through a sensational Mattia Zaccani bicycle kick before the Italy international was ruled offside as he flashed in his exceptional finish.

But Dia made sure Lazio got something from a keenly-contested match at the Stadio Olimpico and moved three points ahead of Juve in fourth place.

Marco Baroni’s team are on 46 points but will be knocked out of Italy’s Champions League positions on goal difference if Juve beat Inter.

“It was a great match and we played really well… Honestly I think we were a bit unlucky and probably should have won today,” said Isaksen.

Atalanta slip

Atalanta stay five points behind Napoli after their bid for a first league title was dented by a goalless draw with Cagliari.

Already hit with injuries including that of key attacker Ademola Lookman, Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini dropped first teamers like Marten de Roon, Ederson and Charles De Ketelaere ahead of his team’s return leg of a Champions League play-off with Club Brugge.

Atalanta trail that tie 2-1 after a hugely controversial penalty given against them in stoppage of the first leg in Belgium on Wednesday.

“We’re up for that match, especially after how the first leg ended… We have to try and do everything to get through,” said Gasperini.

Santiago Gimenez marked his full Serie A debut with the decisive goal in AC Milan’s 1-0 win over struggling Verona, his second goal in as many league appearances since signing from Feyenoord earlier this month.

Mexico striker Gimenez was on hand to nod in for seventh-placed Milan 74 minutes into his first San Siro start, after Rafael Leao deftly volleyed a delicate cross into his path.

The 23-year-old will face his former Feyenoord teammates in Milan on Tuesday hoping to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg of their Champions League play-off.

Lazio on Tuesday sacked the club doctor responsible for performing penis surgery on their fascist-sympathising falconer, who was dismissed the day before for publishing the results of the operation online. Speaking to journalists outside Italy’s parliament building in Rome, 67-year-old senator and Lazio club owner Claudio Lotito  said that Gabriele Antonini had been fired “at the speed of light” after appearing in controversial photos and videos posted on social media by Juan Bernabe. Spaniard Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with club mascot Olimpia the eagle since 2010, caused scandal when he posted images of his erect penis following surgery.

Antonini put Bernabe under the knife on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis designed to improve the 56-year-old’s sexual performance.

“I haven’t once missed mass in 67 years, I behave in an irreproachable manner in every sense, I fight for change and morals and you behave like that?” Lotito said of Bernabe, according to news agency AGI.

“He was with us for 15 years but I sacked him within the hour because I don’t answer to anybody.”

Lotito said that the pair were sacked for violating “Lazio’s code of ethics, which requires behaviour that reflects the true values of sport”.

He added that Bernabe’s dismissal meant that Olimpia would no longer fly high around Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, as the presence of the eagle was “tied to that person”.

“I got the eagle mascot to create enthusiasm and passion among child supporters but the person who looked after that eagle behaved in a morally shoddy manner,” he said.

Lotito and Lazio took a less hard line with Bernabe in 2021 when he was briefly suspended for performing a fascist salute at the end of a match with Serie A rivals Inter Milan.

Bernabe was filmed by fans making the stiff-armed gesture and chanting “Duce, Duce” while holding Olimpia and dressed in full Lazio kit.

He then told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero that he was “proud” to be a supporter of far-right Spanish political party Vox and admired dictators Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco.

On Tuesday, Lotito played down that incident, saying vaguely that he makes “professional judgements”, and describing Bernabe’s fascist salute as “behaviour that is a bit excessive”.

Lazio have long had a reputation for being associated with Italy’s far-right, largely due to their hardcore ultras who for decades have been some of the most notoriously fascist fans in Europe.

Their historic ultras, the ‘Irriducibili’, had friendly relations with hard-right groups across the continent, while fans have repeatedly directed anti-semitic chants at supporters of local rivals Roma.

Atalanta kept hold of top spot in Serie A on Saturday after escaping Lazio with a 1-1 draw which kept Inter Milan at bay but ended their club-record league winning streak at 11 matches. Marco Brescianini tapped home into an open goal with two minutes remaining to snatch a point from the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, where a passionate crowd thought a big win was coming their way. Instead Atalanta will end a historic year a point ahead of Inter, who have a game in hand, after the champions briefly drew level on points with a 3-0 win earlier at Cagliari.

Europa League holders Atalanta will lead the league even if Napoli beat Venezia on Sunday and draw level on 41 points with Gian Piero Gasperini’s side who have a significantly better goal difference than the 2023 champions.

Should two teams finish level at the top of Serie A come the end of the season they will face off in a single match to decide the destination of the Scudetto, which Atalanta have never won.

“We struggled for long periods in the first half, but we were much better in the second,” said Atalanta coach Gasperini.

“This year has been the best year in Atalanta’s history, let’s hope we can make 2025 the same.”

Atalanta showed great character to battle back from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru’s 27th-minute goal which came in an intense opening period from Lazio.

The away side were initially blitzed by Lazio, with Marco Carnesecchi making two sensational stops before Matteo Guendouzi curled a great strike off the post in the 11th minute.

But as the match wore on, Atalanta, who were without injured star striker Mateo Retegui, grew into the game and deservedly drew level in front of a boisterous and hostile crowd in the Italian capital.

Brescianini netted his third goal of the season thanks largely to Ademola Lookman, who made up for earlier missing from yards out by beating Lazio’s offside trap, meeting Nicolo Zaniolo’s hooked pass and rolling across to his teammate to salvage a precious point.

Next up, Atalanta travel to play the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, where they will face Inter on Thursday.

Lautaro back in the goals

Lautaro Martinez ended an eight-match scoring drought at Cagliari, netting the second in an engaging contest in Sardinia which Inter won with second-half goals from the Argentina striker, Alessandro Bastoni and Hakan Calhanoglu.

Inter have won their last five in Italy’s top flight, scoring 19 and conceding just once, a burst in form which has re-established Inter as favourites to retain the Scudetto.

The only thing missing for Inter were goals from captain Martinez, who hadn’t scored since November 3 before he prodded home Nicolo Barella‘s cross in the 71st minute on Saturday.

“The most important thing is that Inter win. If I get a goal too, then that’s a bonus,” said Martinez.

“We work hard every day to win trophies and anyone who sets foot on the pitch will give their all for the team. We’ve just got to keep going and make 2025 like this year.”

Inter could have won by an even more convincing margin had captain Martinez not wasted great chances in each half and Cagliari goalkeeper Simone Scuffet not pulled off superb saves to deny Marcus Thuram and Barella.

But Martinez did net his seventh goal this season in all competitions and seven minutes later Calhanoglu made absolutely sure of the points from the penalty spot.

Cagliari are just inside the relegation zone after a fourth consecutive defeat for Davide Nicola’s side, a point behind Verona and Como who both play on Monday.

Napoli conceded top spot in Serie A to red-hot Atalanta on Sunday after falling to a 1-0 home defeat to Lazio and dropping to two points from the summit. Fiorentina earlier remained on Napoli’s heels after their 1-0 home win over Cagliari in their first league match since midfielder Edoardo Bove’s sudden collapse last weekend. In soaking wet Naples, Gustav Isaksen stunned the home fans with a brilliant strike, which rifled past Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret and kept Lazio right in a crowded league title race.

Marco Baroni’s Lazio are fifth but only three points behind new leaders Atalanta, who sit top of the pile thanks to a club record-equalling ninth straight league win over AC Milan on Friday.

“The boys showed how fired up they were and their work ethic,” Baroni told DAZN. 

“We’re facing teams built to win, and the only way we can get there (to their level) is with good football. That’s the only way we can play.”

Napoli now have three teams just a point behind them, including Inter Milan and Lazio who also dumped Antonio Conte’s team out of the Italian Cup on Thursday.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa both struck the woodwork for Napoli, who are hunting a fourth league title after being crowned champions in 2023.

But the hosts were frustrated by dogged Lazio, who were largely on the back foot but came close on a couple of occasions before Isaksen smashed in his second Serie A goal of the season. 

Isaksen had stung Meret’s fingers with a similar effort midway through the first half, while Fisayo Dele-Bashiru crashed a rocket of a shot onto the bar six minutes after the break.

Kvaratskhelia skimmed the crossbar with a free-kick in first-half stoppage time, while Anguissa glanced a header onto the post moments before Isaksen struck his winner.

“I think tonight showed that the direction we’re heading in is the right one,” insisted Conte to DAZN.

“We need to improve, especially when it comes to creating chances because too often the final pass is missing and tonight was not the first time.”

Fiorentina in the hunt

Fiorentina are, alongside third-placed Inter, level on 31 points with Lazio after they edged past Cagliari earlier on Sunday.

Danilo Cataldi fired in the only goal of the game in the 24th minute to give Fiorentina an eighth straight win in Italy’s top flight, not counting their interrupted match with Inter Milan which was goalless when Bove collapsed.

Promising midfielder Bove, 22, has been in Florence’s Careggi hospital for a week as he undergoes tests, with reports in Italian media saying that his career in Italy is effectively over.

Before kick-off, Fiorentina captain Luca Ranieri expressed anger at reports that Bove was set to have a defibrillator fitted, which would force him to look for a club abroad due to stringent health regulations in Italian sport.

“I ask for a bit of respect for both him and for his privacy because a series of untrue things have been written and said about him,” said Ranieri.

Raffaele Palladino also insisted that he and his players were “waiting to welcome him back on the pitch soon”.

Cataldi dedicated his superb opener to his good friend and fellow Roman Bove, with the pair on loan at Fiorentina from capital city clubs Lazio and Roma.

The 30-year-old ran to a pitchside camera to make the number four — Bove’s shirt number — and a heart with his fingers after rifling Lucas Beltran’s lay-off into the top corner.

Cataldi’s goal left spirited Cagliari 15th, two points above Verona who dropped into the relegation zone on goal difference after being flattened 4-1 by Empoli. 

Verona dropped behind Como following a heavy home defeat — their seventh loss in eight league matches — and an entertaining 2-2 draw for Cesc Fabregas’ side at bottom club Venezia.

Team Napoli in action© AFP

Atalanta take on AC Milan on Friday night with Serie A’s top spot in their sights and a growing belief that this could be their year for unprecedented Scudetto glory. A point behind current leaders Napoli, Atalanta are gunning for a club record-equalling ninth straight win in Italy’s top flight and are, for the first time in their history, genuine title challengers. Atalanta have never finished higher than third in Serie A, which they did three seasons in a row between 2019 and 2021 with a thrilling team featuring an all-action attack of Josip Ilicic, Duvan Zapata and Papu Gomez.

However the current line-up, still on a high from last year’s historic Europa League triumph and the division’s top scorers with 36 goals, looks capable of going even further in Gian Piero Gasperini’s ninth season as coach.

Atalanta have won 11 of 12 matches in all competitions — drawing the other — since the start of October and after Monday night’s 2-0 success at Roma, Claudio Ranieri said they were “ready, really ready” to fight for the league crown.

“Winning the Europa League really helped those who took part in it grow as players, and a lot of new faces have arrived who are also developing. That’s the reason for these results,” said Gasperini after his team hit Young Boys for six last month.

A win over Milan would put Atalanta top at least for two days as Napoli host Lazio on Sunday night, and equal a Serie A wins record established in 2020 when Bergamo was the European epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic.

That year Atalanta stunned Europe by reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where two late goals denied them a win over mega-rich Paris Saint-Germain and a spot in the last four.

Since then, Atalanta have kept building on and off the pitch, with the latest iteration of “Gaspball” being played out in the now fully refurbished Gewiss Stadium, one of the few grounds in Serie A owned by the club and not a public body.

Atalanta, a traditionally small, provincial club with fanatical support, host Real Madrid on Tuesday and have come so far under Gasperini and the guidance of the local Percassi family that few would be surprised by a win.

First up, however, are Milan, who are 10 points behind Napoli with a game in hand but have won their last three matches against the modest opposition of Slovan Bratislava, Empoli and Sassuolo, netting 12 times in the process.

Champions Inter Milan kick off the weekend’s action on Friday against Parma at the San Siro, Simone Inzaghi’s side set to play for the first time since last weekend’s match at Fiorentina was called off following Edoardo Bove’s harrowing collapse.

Both Inter and Fiorentina, who host Cagliari on Sunday, are three points behind Atalanta with a game in hand following a traumatic evening which reminded fans of former captain Davide Astori‘s sudden death in 2018. 

The Viola await an official diagnoses of what caused midfielder Bove, who is still in intensive care at Florence’s Careggi hospital, to lose consciousness.

Player to watch: Tijjani Reijnders

If Milan are to get anything from Bergamo, Tijjani Reijnders will be key as the Netherlands midfielder is in hot form and the one constant performer in Paulo Fonseca’s otherwise inconsistent side.

Reijnders smashed in his seventh goal of the season on Tuesday night as a largely second-string Milan outfit hammered Serie B leaders Sassuolo 6-1 in the Italian Cup, his third in two games after also netting a brace against Empoli last weekend.

The 26-year-old has a good claim to be Serie A’s best midfielder right now and will be up against it with Ederson and Marten de Roon making Atalanta fans forget Teun Koopmeiners’ big-money move to Juventus.

Fixtures (times GMT)

Friday

Inter Milan v Parma (1730), Atalanta v AC Milan (1945)

Saturday

Genoa v Torino (1400), Juventus v Bologna (1700), Roma v Lecce (1945)

Sunday

Fiorentina v Cagliari (1130), Verona v Empoli (1400), Venezia v Como (1700), Napoli v Lazio (1945)

Monday

Monza v Udinese (1945)

Serie A: Lazio defeated Cagliari 2-1© X (Twitter)

Team Roma in action© AFP

Juventus moved level on points with Serie A leaders Napoli on Saturday after squeezing past 10-man Lazio 1-0, while AC Milan overcame having to play for over an hour with 10 men to beat Udinese by the same score. Mario Gila’s own goal with five minutes remaining gave Juve the win in Turin, a crushing blow for Lazio who acquitted themselves well after Alessio Romagnoli was sent off in the 24th minute. Thiago Motta‘s Juve looked set to dominate when Romagnoli was shown a straight red card for taking out Pierre Kalulu as he raced towards goal.

But Lazio had little trouble holding off Juve’s uninspired attacking, who had to rely on Gila poking Juan Cabal’s low cross into his own goal in order to take the three points.

“It was a difficult match against a good team,” said Motta.

“It’s our first win at home (in the league) since August and it was deserved.”

Lazio, in fifth, were angered by Douglas Luiz not being sent off for punching Patric, an offence which was apparently not seen by the VAR officials.

“It is violent conduct and should have been a red card. I do not understand why it was not sanctioned. We feel that we are being taken for a ride,” said sporting director Angelo Mariano Fabiani.

Juve have a better goal difference than Napoli but stay behind their rivals, coached by Antonio Conte, as they have played a game more.

Napoli can ensure they stay top with a win at Empoli in Sunday’s lunchtime match, while champions Inter Milan, who sit two points off the pace alongside their local rivals Milan, are at Roma.

Battling Milan

Samuel Chukwueze’s 13th-minute strike looked like being the first of a comfortable win for Milan but ended up being the winning goal as the seven-time European champions held on for the points.

Their task was made difficult by Tijjani Reijnders being sent off in the 29th minute for a clumsy foul on Sandi Lovric, who would have been clean through on goal had the Netherlands midfielder not clipped his heels.

“It was two matches in one. The first one finished after half an hour, 30 minutes of character, quality and the sort of play which is close to what I want,” said Paulo Fonseca.

The Portuguese has had to field questions about ill discipline in the dressing room, especially among star players like suspended Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao, who was left on the bench for the entire match.

“After the sending off it was all about the team spirit,” he added.

“If anyone doubted that we’re a united team today was the demonstration that we are.”

The hosts looked to have been sucker-punched when Christian Kabasele bundled home for Udinese in the fifth minute of stoppage time, but a huge roar rang around the ground when, after a long VAR check, the goal was ruled out for Jurgen Ekkelenkamp’s toes straying offside.

Ultra protests

Milan’s win came in front of a flat San Siro following the decision of Milan’s hardcore “ultras” supporters to stand in silence for most of the match in protest at what they claim is a law enforcement and Italian media campaign against them.

Leading ultras from both Milan and local rivals Inter were arrested last month and are accused of a variety of crimes ranging from criminal conspiracy and extortion to assault.

Earlier this week, Milan’s ultras groups refuted allegations by investigators of any involvement in ticket touting, control of parking and sales from concession stands near the San Siro.

In the meantime, police banned the ultras’ large “Curva Sud Milano” from being hung out in that section, leading to supporters around the whole stadium, not just ultras, leaving their own banners and flags at home.

Instead fans in the Curva Sud held a banner in support of their arrested allies which read, loosely translated, “Stay strong boys”.

Inter Milan were held to a 1-1 draw by Lazio at Sunday’s Serie A title party at the San Siro as the champions get set to lift the trophy with a major debt deadline leaving their future uncertain. Denzel Dumfries secured a meaningless point for Inter with three minutes remaining by levelling Daichi Kamada’s 32nd-minute opener for Lazio, who stay seventh but are level on 60 points with local rivals Roma who face Genoa in the day’s late match. Simone Inzaghi’s team will care little about the result as the Scudetto was sealed weeks ago, but the trophy ceremony will take place against an uneasy backdrop as the club could be repossessed within a matter of days.

What was supposed to be a weekend of celebration has been overshadowed by the Tuesday deadline for the repayment of around 395 million euros ($429 million) to US fund Oaktree.

A source told AFP on Saturday that it was “unlikely” that Inter’s Chinese owners Suning would be able to fulfil its obligation to Oaktree. 

That means Oaktree could take control of the club in a similar manner to how AC Milan were acquired by another US fund, Elliott Management, six years ago.

Inter’s sporting CEO Giuseppe Marotta put a brave face on the situation when speaking to broadcaster DAZN pre-match, saying that the club were in a “solid” position.

But a banner in the stands read “Thanks Steven”, for president Steven Zhang, suggesting that fans have little faith in Suning staying on as owners.

Inter have won seven trophies, including two Serie A titles, and reached two European finals since Suning acquired the club in 2016.

Earlier, Sassuolo’s 11-year stay in Serie A came to an end in dramatic fashion after they lost 2-0 to Cagliari and Udinese snatched a 1-1 draw with Empoli in the 14th minute of stoppage time.

Matteo Prati and Gianluca Lapadula ensured Cagliari of a place in Italy’s top flight with goals in the 71st and 91st minutes in Reggio Emilia.

Sassuolo thought they still had a chance of fighting for survival on the final day of the season after M’Baye Niang‘s penalty gave Empoli a 90th-minute lead at Udinese.

But eight minutes later Jacopo Fazzi pulled back Roberto Pereyra just as the Argentine looked set to level for Udinese from close range. 

And after a long VAR check, Lazar Samardzic thumped home the equaliser from the spot with the last kick of the game.

That draw and Frosinone winning 1-0 at Monza left second-from-bottom Sassuolo five points from Udinese, who sit one point above Empoli and the relegation zone, with one match remaining.