Napoli’s slim hopes of defending their Serie A title all but ended with a 0-2 home defeat to Lazio on Saturday, leaving them 12 points behind leaders Inter Milan with five games to go.
Inter, which defeated Cagliari 3-0 on Friday, has 78 points, while Napoli has 66 points. AC Milan are three points behind in Sunday’s match against Hellas Verona and Lazio are ninth in the standings with 47 points.
The visiting side took a six-minute lead through Matteo Cancellieri, and Lazio could afford to spurn a penalty opportunity, with Vanja Milinkovic-Savic saving Mattia Zaccagni’s penalty, before Toma Basic doubled their lead twelve minutes after half-time.
Lazio, led by former Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri, never looked like letting a sluggish home side get back into the game and came away victorious from the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona for the fourth consecutive season.
Napoli had to deal with it early on when Cancellieri sent a shot home from the edge of the six-yard box after Kenneth Taylor’s cutback on the byline.
The home side piled on, but without creating clear chances, and Stanislav Lobotka’s mistake on Tijjani Noslin gave Lazio the chance to double their lead from the penalty spot.
After his penalty was saved, an off-balance Zaccagni knocked over the rebound, leaving Cancellieri better placed to strike.
Milinkovic-Savic made saves from Cancellieri and Nuno Tavares to keep the host side in the match as the home side trudged off at half-time to boos from the home fans.
After a messy opening of the second half, Lazio scored a second goal. Tavares charged down the left flank and after Cancellieri missed a simple tap at the back post, the ball fell to the unmarked Basic who made no mistake.
Napoli substitute Alisson Santos hit the outside of the post but the defending champions went down with a whimper in a match in which not a single shot on target was registered.
At the turn of the year, Serie A enjoyed a thrilling title race, with four points separating the top five teams.
However, as Inter went full steam ahead, their rivals fell away and Antonio Conte’s Napoli looked to have little fight left as the Scudetto slipped out of reach.
Published on April 19, 2026
