Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Mertens hat-trick spurs Napoli

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MILAN: Dries Mertens hit a hat-trick and Marek Hamsik and Piotr Zielinski scored one apiece as five star Napoli romped to a 5-0 win at Cagliari to close to within five points of Juventus. Champions Juventus can take their lead over Roma and AC Milan to seven points with a win in the Turin derby at Torino later on Sunday. In the meantime, the Old Lady’s title rivals are closing in. Both Lazio, who secured a 2-1 win at Sampdoria on Saturday, and Napoli are now five points off the pace and Roma and AC Milan will aim to reduce their four-point gaps to the champions when they play on Monday.


Fresh from securing top spot in their Champions League qualifying group and sweeping Inter Milan aside last week, Napoli made a confident start with Jose Callejon, Zielinski and then Mertens testing Marco Storari in the Cagliari net in the opening 11 minutes. Cagliari had dropped points in only two of their seven home fixtures, but Maurizio Sarri’s men were about to change that in clinical fashion. Just after the half-hour Mertens turned quickly in the area to fire a pinpoint shot past Storari and into the far bottom corner. — AFP


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