Scott McTominay’s first-half goal earned leaders Napoli a 1-0 win at Torino as Antonio Conte’s side opened a four-point gap at the top of the Serie A standings.
The Scotland midfielder found the net around the half-hour mark when he struck a shot powerfully inside the near post after receiving a precise pass from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Napoli move on to 32 points, with four teams level on 28 points: Atalanta, Lazio, Inter and Fiorentina.
Torino, who went unbeaten in their two games against Napoli last season but struggled to make clear scoring opportunities. It was left to goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to repeatedly thwarted Napoli’s attack and keep the game alive. The Serb dived to keep out a backheel by Romelu Lukaku before stretching to save Kvaratskhelia’s header.
McTominay then found a way past the keeper in the 31st minute to score his third league goal of the season. Torino should have levelled through Saúl Coco, who slipped when presented with an excellent chance from point-blank range. Milinkovic-Savic saved a dangerous header from Mathías Olivera, and although he was beaten by David Neres in stoppage time, the winger’s effort was ruled out for offside.
“I have a group of guys who really understand when I ask them to improve. This is the aspect I like the most, beyond the result and the standings,” Conte said afterwards. “We are growing as individuals and as a team.” On McTominay, he added: “I knew him well [from] the Premier League, he has quality … he could have seen Napoli as a demotion, instead he came to be a protagonist.”
Lazio were beaten 3-1 at mid-table Parma, ending a run of five consecutive league wins. Dennis Man fired the hosts in front early on, after Nicolò Rovella’s second-minute strike for Lazio was disallowed for a foul. Anas Haj Mohamed’s superb volley made it two and Enrico Del Prato sealed victory in stoppage time after Taty Castellanos had pulled one back.
Napoli visit Lazio in the Coppa Italia last 16 on Thursday before hosting them in the league next Sunday. Atalanta can close the gap to Napoli by picking up points at Roma in Monday’s match. Fiorentina’s Sunday home game against Inter was abandoned after Edoardo Bove collapsed on the pitch. The midfielder was taken to hospital where he is being treated in intensive care.
Later on Sunday, Ante Rebic’s stoppage-time leveller for Lecce denied Juventus victory and the chance to join the quartet of teams on 28 points. Instead, Thiago Motta’s side stay in sixth place, unbeaten but with eight draws and just six victories from their 14 league games after wasting a number of first-half opportunities.
Juve finally broke the deadlock after 68 minutes when Andrea Cambiaso fired a long shot from outside the box, which deflected off the leg of Lecce defender Kialonda Gaspar and wrongfooted keeper Wladimiro Falcone. Three minutes into injury time, Rebic was left unmarked to collect a cross and tap the ball in from close range.
In La Liga, Jude Bellingham converted a penalty and Kylian Mbappé added another goal before half-time as Real Madrid beat Getafe 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Carlo Ancelotti’s side bounced back from the Champions League defeat to Liverpool and closed to one point behind leaders Barcelona with a game in hand.
With half an hour on the clock, Antonio Rüdiger was pulled down in the penalty area by Allan Nyom. Bellingham stepped up to take the penalty instead of Mbappé, who had missed a spot-kick at Anfield, and made no mistake as he knocked the ball straight down the middle to beat goalkeeper David Soria.
It did not take Mbappé long to get on the scoresheet as he struck in the 38th minute, taking a brilliant ball from Bellingham and whipping it in from outside the box. Madrid’s new No 9 earned praise from Ancelotti after scoring his 10th goal of the season across all club competitions.
“He was active, dangerous and scored a great goal … that’s what we want from him,” Ancelotti told reporters. “The fans supported Mbappé after Anfield because it was the right thing to do. [The goal was] a relief for everyone because it was a spectacular goal with fantastic execution.”
Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao climbed into the top four with a 2-1 comeback win at Rayo Vallecano, thanks to two goals from substitute Oihan Sancet. Villarreal were denied victory over Girona by Ladislav Krejci’s 97th-minute leveller in their 2-2 draw. Real Sociedad saw off Betis 2-0, with Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty sealing the three points.
Marseille moved above Monaco and into second place in Ligue 1, after Mason Greenwood’s late penalty secured a 2-1 win at Stade Vélodrome. Monaco took the lead through Aleksandr Golovin’s deflected strike, but Luis Henrique headed in a second-half leveller before Greenwood’s successful spot-kick in the 89th minute.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side are seven points behind PSG, who were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Nantes on Saturday. Lille are three points further back in fourth after conceding a late leveller at Montpellier. Arnaud Nordin struck in the 95th minute to rescue a 2-2 draw for the bottom club in what was a bad-tempered contest.
Alexandre Lacazette scored a hat-trick for Lyon as they beat Nice 4-1 to climb above their opponents into fifth place. Joshua King set up Toulouse’s 2-0 home win against Auxerre, while Angers won 1-0 at fellow strugglers Le Havre.
In the Bundesliga, Omar Marmoush scored twice as Eintracht Frankfurt won 4-0 at Heidenheim to move four points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
The Egypt striker continued his prolific form, scoring once in either half to take his league tally to 13 in 12 matches. Farès Chaïbi and Hugo Ekitiké also got on the scoresheet as Eintracht staked their claim as title contenders. Elsewhere, Jonathan Burkardt scored twice as Mainz beat Hoffenheim 2-0 to move into seventh place.
