Serie A leader Napoli beats Lecce amid flares and delays to go 6 points clear of Inter

By Canadian Press on May 3, 2025.

MILAN (AP) — Napoli didn’t let flares and delays affect its performance as Antonio Conte’s side ground out a 1-0 win at Lecce to take firm control of Serie A on Saturday.

Giacomo Raspadori scored the only goal to send Napoli six points clear of second-placed Inter Milan, which was playing lowly Hellas Verona later.

There are three rounds remaining.

There was a tense atmosphere in Lecce and plenty of banners and chants insulting the league’s governing body as fans were furious Lecce was forced to play against Atalanta just three days after the death of club physical therapist Graziano Fiorita.

There was a moving minute’s silence before the match but the tension boiled over after kickoff when fans threw flares and fireworks onto the field, causing the match to be temporarily halted in the sixth minute.

Play was going to continue after about four minutes but there was another delay to repair the bottom of the net, where a firework burned a hole.

Napoli thought it got off to the perfect start when Romelu Lukaku had the ball in the back of the net after 100 seconds but it was ruled out for offside.

The visitors did take the lead in the 24th after Raspadori was bundled over right on the edge of the area and he dusted himself down to curl a free kick into the bottom right corner.

Lecce reacted well and Kialonda Gaspar headed a corner onto the crossbar but, despite laying siege to the goal, it couldn’t find the equalizer and remained just a point above the relegation zone.

Celebrations postponed

Parma had to postpone its celebrations of securing Serie A safety after losing at home to Como 1-0.

Gabriel Strefezza scored in the 79th and some truly awful misses left Parma six points above the drop zone.

Cagliari was only a point above Parma and also still not safe after losing to Udinese 2-1.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Daniella Matar, The Associated Press

19
-18