Napoli create another 19 points difference in Serie A

The three big Serie A giants are given the opportunity to kick the 29th round early to best prepare for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals next week. Despite having to recuperate for the great Milan war on April 12 and continuing to miss Victor Osimhen and Matias Olivera due to injuries, Napoli won all three points with a bit of luck at Lecce.

The hosts created the first chance in the 8th minute with Youssef Maleh's high cornering shot that was shoved wide by keeper Alex Meret and then by Federico Baschirotto a header wide of the target just after that.

But Napoli is the team that concretizes a better chance to open the scoring. In the attacking phase of the 18th minute, midfielder Kim Min-jae crossed from the right to Giovanni Di Lorenzo to head in an empty position to the corner near the goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone.

At the beginning of the second half, Lecce equalized the score. From Oudin's free kick, Assan Ceesay headed the crossbar, but Napoli could not clear the ball. Di Francesco successfully scrambled in the penalty area and then sank to a near corner out of Meret's reach.

But Napoli still won three points thanks to the opponent's mistake. In the 64th minute, Antonino Gallo tried to pass with his chest from close range, surprising Falcone, missed and let the ball roll over the goal line. Thanks to that, Napoli has won seven consecutive away matches for the first time in a Serie A season.

Meanwhile, Milan was held to a 0-0 draw by Empoli at the San Siro by VAR. In the 58th minute, referee Matteo Marcenaro gave Milan a penalty when determining Tyronne Ebuehi let the ball touch his hand in the penalty area. But after going to the touchline to review the video, he changed his mind because the ball hit the Empoli player's head.

In the 89th minute, Olivier Giroud put the ball into the net from Alessandro Florenzi's cross, then ran to the corner to celebrate the goal. But after receiving advice from VAR, referee Marcenaro denied the goal because the French striker scored with his hand. Interspersed with these two situations of VAR intervention is Alessandro Florenzi's shot to the post.

A few days ago, Milan shocked when they won 4-0 at the top of the table Napoli. Coach Stefano Pioli explained that Milan could not win two consecutive matches because of bad luck, and said that Empoli was dead, instead of leaving many spaces for his students to exploit like Napoli.

Similarly, before being a guest of Benfica in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on April 11, Inter only had a 1-1 draw at Salernitana. Robin Gosens put Inter ahead in the 6th minute, but Salernitana tied the score in the 90th minute when Antonio Candreva crossed the ball deep from the right to the top corner, out of reach of goalkeeper Andre Onana.

With these results, Napoli has 74 points, temporarily widening the gap with Lazio - the club receiving Juventus today - to 19 points. Milan and Inter take the next positions with 52 and 51 points, the risk of being surpassed by Roma - the club has 50 points and is a guest of Torino today.