Rasmus Hojlund fired Napoli to the top of Serie A with both goals in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Juventus and former idol Luciano Spalletti left empty-handed from the scene of his greatest triumph.
Danish striker Hojlund headed in the winning goal with twelve minutes remaining at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
The 22-year-old also gave Napoli an early lead in Naples, his first club goal since scoring the winner against Genoa in early October.
Napoli are one point ahead of Inter Milan after condemning Juve to a first league defeat since Spalletti took charge of the Turin giants at the end of October, but will be passed on goal difference by AC Milan on Monday if the seven-time European champions beat Torino.
“All I can say is: thank you, thank you, thank you to the players,” said coach Antonio Conte, who looked close to a shock exit after a dismal defeat at Bologna before the last international break.
But Napoli have won five in all competitions since then – in the midst of an injury crisis – and travel to Portugal to take on Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Wednesday.
«They have grown so much. It makes me very proud because they understand what we are trying to do and the period we are going through, and they are responding in an incredible way,» Conte added.
Juve are now eight points clear of the title race after 14 games, while Spalletti, who led Napoli to a first Scudetto in more than three decades in 2023, is struggling to get to grips with his new players.
Juve looked good for a result when Kenan Yildiz coolly curled home his sixth goal of the season after brilliantly exchanging passes with Weston McKennie.
They were the better team of the second half until then, but failed to capitalize on that moment, with Yildiz’s substitution in the 76th minute quickly followed by Hojlund’s winner.
‘Taking stock’
McKennie gave Hojlund his big chance by weakly heading a speculative cross to the powerful centre-forward, who made no mistake from close range.
It was a bad end to a match that started with loud boos for Spalletti from Napoli fans angry that he joined Juve after previously saying he would never manage another club after his historic title win.
«We were better after our goal, but it was schoolboy stuff; we didn’t push the situation as a team,» Spalletti said.
“We have to step it up quickly, otherwise it will be difficult… We have to take stock.”
Roma, beaten by Napoli last weekend, lost further ground in the title race with an embarrassing 0-1 defeat at Cagliari to leave them four points behind Napoli.
Roma were left with ten men in the second half after Zeki Celik brought down Michael Folorunsho and left Sardinia with nothing thanks to Gianluca Gaetano’s neat finish from a corner in the 82nd minute.
«We made some clear mistakes, both for the red card and for their goal, and it is difficult to get a result when such things happen,» Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini said.
Bologna are two points behind Roma in fifth place after a 1-1 draw against Rome’s other team, Lazio, with Jens Odgaard scoring the equalizer five minutes before half-time.
Lazio’s draw means that promoted Cremonese – with a 2-0 win over Lecce in the early match of the day – will be in the top half of the table at the end of this round.
Davide Nicola’s side had the upper hand thanks to Federico Bonazzoli’s penalty and a first Cremonese goal for Antonio Sanabria, both of which came in the second half.
Published on December 8, 2025
