Napoli emphatically ended Lecce’s 100 per cent home record in Serie A with a 4-0 victory at the Stadio Via del Mare.
Goals from Leo Ostigard and substitutes Victor Osimhen and Gianluca Gaetano had the visitors in control before Matteo Politano converted a penalty in added time.
Both teams started the day in the top six with 11 points from six games but Rudi Garcia’s men were good value for their fourth win of the campaign to maintain the pressure on the Milan clubs.
Garcia made three changes following the convincing 4-1 defeat of Udinese in midweek, with Mathias Olivera, Giovanni Simeone and Jesper Lindstrom coming in for Mario Rui, Osimhen and Politano.
Napoli had early control in sunny Puglia with Lecce, the season’s surprise package, struggling to make an impression.
The visitors’ early enterprise was rewarded in the 16th minute when they took the lead, central defender Ostigard heading in Piotr Zielinski’s free-kick from the left unchallenged at the far post.
Lecce won only three home games last season but had already beaten Lazio, Salernitana and Genoa this time around and falling behind sparked them into life.
Roberto D’Aversa’s men, who saw their best start to a Serie A season end on Tuesday with a 1-0 loss at Juventus, threatened in the 25th minute when Nikola Krstovic brought a low, diving save out of goalkeeper Alex Meret.
Central defender Marin Pongracic then wasted the Salentini’s best first-half chance on the half hour, firing over from seven yards after a corner on the right.
However, Napoli finished the half strongly and could have led by more than one goal at the interval.
In the final five minutes of the first half, Simeone saw a powerful right-foot shot go just wide, Wladimiro Falcone saved from Zielinski, then Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was narrowly off-target with a free-kick.
Osimhen replaced Simeone for the second half, and within six minutes of his introduction he had doubled Napoli’s lead with his fifth goal of the season, a header off the post from close range following Kvaratskhelia’s cross.
Gabriel Strefezza had the ball in the visitors’ net in the 57th minute with a close-range header but it was ruled out for handball in the build-up by Krstovic.
With a Champions League match against Real Madrid coming up on Tuesday, Garcia rotated his players, first replacing Lindstrom and Kvaratskhelia with Giacomo Raspadori and Politano.
Raspadori’s low left-foot shot was saved by Falcone in the 67th minute, before Jens-Lys Cajuste came on for Stanislav Lobotka with 14 minutes remaining.
Lecce could not find the breakthrough they needed to set up a tense finish and Napoli made it 3-0 when Gaetano, the last of their five substitutes to be introduced, increased the lead with two minutes remaining.
Less than five minutes after his introduction, the attacking midfielder fired home powerfully from the edge of the penalty box.
There was still time for a fourth goal, Politano sending Falcone the wrong way from the penalty spot after Ylber Ramadani had been penalised for fouling Gaetano.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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