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| Biancocelesti back on top |
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Lazio moved back to the top of Serie A thanks to a 2-0 win over Napoli.
Mauro Zarate put the home side ahead in the 15th minute and Sergio Floccari sealed the win after an hour as Edy Reja's side climbed back above AC Milan and ended a run of two straight defeats to return to the summit.
Napoli hit the woodwork once and missed several other chances, but Lazio held on to all three points.
Lazio lost top spot in Serie A on the back of two defeats in the last week, yet they were keen to move back to the summit.
Zarate, whose anger at being substituted in the 1-0 defeat to Cesena on Wednesday had led to rumours of a rift between the Argentinian striker and his club, showed that coach Edy Reja's denial of such a problem existing yesterday was spot on.
He put Lazio in front after a quarter of an hour, providing a confident finish after chesting Stefano Mauri's ball down in front of him and shaking off Paolo Cannavaro to beat Morgan de Sanctis.
Napoli's response was immediate, but Marek Hamsik would have been in an offside position anyway had he managed to divert Christian Maggio's low cross inside the post.
Ezequeil Lavezzi hit the crossbar in the 29th minute after jinking from left to right on the edge of the penalty area and releasing his shot only when he had made enough room to do so.
In an end-to-end game, Mauri raced through for Lazio in the 32nd minute, but Gianluca Grava made a fine sliding tackle which the Lazio midfielder felt should have been punished with a penalty, but the referee was right to wave play on.
The home side doubled their lead after an hour when Zarate this time turned provider for Floccari, who converted from 10 yards.
Jose Ernesto Sosa almost scored for the visitors in the 72nd minute when he shot inches wide of the post from just outside the penalty area.
Zarate went close to a second goal in the 78th minute when his shot deflected off Cannavaro's head and struck the crossbar.
Napoli's misfortune was summed up by a shot over the crossbar from Cavani from point blank range after Muslera fumbled the ball and there was just no way back into the game for the visitors.
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