Napoli won 2-0 away to AC Milan on Tuesday to extend their lead at the top of Serie A to seven points.
The visitors struck twice in the first half through Romelu Lukaku and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to seal their victory and put more space between themselves and second-placed Inter Milan.
Hosts Milan were rocked by Lukaku's goal, which came in the fifth minute and was his fourth of the season, while Napoli never looked back afterwards.
Antonio Conte's side scored a second with a wonderful curling effort from Kvaratskhelia that killed the game as a contest.
Milan did have an Alvaro Morata goal ruled out two minutes into the second half after a VAR review for offside, but that was the closest they came among a handful of decent opportunities.
But league leaders Napoli were able to hold on for their fifth consecutive league victory, which was also their ninth without defeat. Milan stay eighth on 14 points.
5 - Napoli have won five games in a row in Serie A for the first time since February 2023 (eight on that case); furthermore, only Barcelona (10) have won more matches than the Partenopei (eight) in the top-5 European leagues this season. Path.#MilanNapoli pic.twitter.com/Uagx5xG983
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) October 29, 2024
Data debrief: Dominant Napoli are challenging for another Scudetto
Tuesday's victory puts Napoli on 25 points after 10 matches, which is almost half of their entire total (53) from the 2023-24 season.
The match was also their seventh clean sheet in their last eight matches in all competitions, while they have conceded the equal-fewest goals (five) in Serie A.
They are unbeaten since losing against Hella Verona on the opening day and have won eight of their nine league games since.
