Raspadori fires Napoli to brink of title glory

Rome, Apr. 25: Giacomo Raspadori fired Napoli to the brink of their first Serie A title in over three decades on Sunday with his stoppage-time winner in a 1-0 triumph at Juventus which was packed with late drama.

Italy international Raspadori was left completely unmarked to lash home a volley from Eljif Elmas's cross in the 93rd minute of a pulsating encounter in Turin, pushing Napoli 17 points ahead of second-placed Lazio, who lost at home to Torino on Saturday.

Raspadori's late winner means that Napoli, who were knocked out of the Champions League by AC Milan on Tuesday, can win Serie A for the first time since 1990 next weekend if they beat Salernitana and Lazio fail to win at Inter Milan. "It was a very important goal, but we still have matches to win. Today gave us a great hand as we came from disappointment in the Champions League," said Raspadori.

"We only have one thing on our minds, get three points against Salernitana."

Juve stay third, where they rose to on Thursday following the decision to revoke their 15-point penalty for illicit transfer activity, after their third straight league defeat.

However they await a new ruling from the Italian Football Federation's (FIGC) appeals court to see if they will be handed a new points penalty, a decision which will have a big impact in Serie A's race for the Champions League.

Juve thought they had snatched the points for themselves when substitute Angel Di Maria netted a brilliant solo effort with eight minutes remaining, only for referee Michael Fabbri to then rule it out for a foul on Stanislav Lobotka which Juve were convinced was a good tackle.

After Di Maria had another goal chalked off for the ball going out of play, and Osimhen miscontrolled when clean through on goal, Raspadori popped up to take Napoli to potentially one match from fulfilling the dream of a generation of fans. (AFP)