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Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Two stunning strikes keep Napoli second, Milan teams win

Soccer Football - Serie A - Napoli v U.S Sassuolo - Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy - October 7, 2018 Napoli's Lorenzo Insigne in action with Sassuolo's Pol Lirola REUTERS/Ciro De Luca

MILAN (Reuters) - Napoli's Adam Ounas and Lorenzo Insigne scored superb goals to secure a 2-0 win over Sassuolo which moved their second-placed side six points behind Juventus in Serie A on Sunday.

Carlo Ancelotti's team got off to a flying start when Ounas scored his first Italian top flight goal after three minutes.

The Algerian intercepted a backpass with his chest, flicked the ball over a defender and then met it with a half-volley which he fired past goalkeeper Andrea Consigli.

Soccer Football - Serie A - Napoli v U.S Sassuolo - Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy - October 7, 2018 Napoli's Adam Ounas in action with Sassuolo's Giangiacomo Magnani REUTERS/Ciro De Luca

Not to be outdone, Insigne wrapped up the three points in the 72nd minute when he collected a pass on the edge of the area and fired a curling, dipping shot into the top corner for his sixth goal of the season.

Napoli have 18 points from eight games -- six wins and two defeats -- and trail Juventus, who have 24 after maintaining a 100 percent record with a 2-0 win at Udinese on Saturday.

Sassuolo had Rogerio sent off late in the game for a high challenge on Jose Callejon deep inside the Napoli half.

Soccer Football - Serie A - Napoli v U.S Sassuolo - Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy - October 7, 2018 Napoli players celebrate in front of fans after the match REUTERS/Ciro De Luca

"We played some really good football today even though Sassuolo were not easy opponents to deal with," said Ancelotti. "It would have been more comfortable if we hadn’t wasted so many scoring chances but we still controlled the game."

ICARDI DOUBLE

Soccer Football - Serie A - Napoli v U.S Sassuolo - Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy - October 7, 2018 Sassuolo's Mehdi Bourabia in action Napoli's Amadou Diawara REUTERS/Ciro De Luca

Inter Milan survived a missed penalty as they won 2-1 at SPAL, their sixth win in a row in all competitions, with two goals from Mauro Icardi to go third on 16 points.

The Argentine forward scored with a header which took a deflection off Johan Djourou in the 14th minute but Inter had a huge let-off when Mirco Antenucci missed a penalty for SPAL, sending his effort wide.

Alberto Paloschi grabbed a deserved equaliser for SPAL in the 72nd, shortly after they hit the bar, but Inter went back in front six minutes later when Icardi scored on the turn.

Soccer Football - Serie A - Napoli v U.S Sassuolo - Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy - October 7, 2018 Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti gestures REUTERS/Ciro De Luca

AC Milan striker Gonzalo Higuain got two first-half goals to set them on the way to a 3-1 home win over bottom side Chievo who remain without a victory.

Giacomo Bonaventura added Milan's third and 39-year-old Sergio Pellissier pulled one back for the Flying Donkeys, who are stuck on minus one point after having three deducted for accounting irregularities.

Lazio bounced back from last week's derby defeat against AS Roma by beating Fiorentina 1-0 with a first-half goal by Ciro Immobile, taking them to fourth in the table with 15 points.

Soccer Football - Serie A - Napoli v U.S Sassuolo - Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy - October 7, 2018 Napoli's Lorenzo Insigne celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Ciro De Luca

Genoa forward Krzysztof Piatek maintained his record of scoring in every Serie A match for his new club although it was not enough to prevent them losing 3-1 at home to Parma.

The 23-year-old put Genoa ahead with a looping header after six minutes, taking his tally to nine for the season.

It also meant the Polish forward has scored in all seven league appearances for Genoa since joining from Cracovia for a modest four million euros (3.51 million pounds) in the close season.

Soccer Football - Serie A - Napoli v U.S Sassuolo - Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy - October 7, 2018 Napoli's Adam Ounas celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates REUTERS/Ciro De Luca

But despite missing forward Gervinho, promoted Parma hit back with goals from Luca Rigoni, Luca Siligardi and Fabio Ceravolo in a 15-minute first-half spell to hand Genoa a first home defeat of the season.

(Writing by Brian Homewood, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Ken Ferris)

Soccer Football - Serie A - Napoli v U.S Sassuolo - Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy - October 7, 2018 Sassuolo's Andrea Consigli dives as Napoli's Lorenzo Insigne (not pictured) scores their second goal REUTERS/Ciro De Luca
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