Napoli edge closer to the dream

Following their 2-0 win over Salernitana on Saturday, Napoli moved closer to achieving the dream of winning the Serie A for the first time in 33 years.

Napoli further extended their grip on the Serie A title race by beating local rivals Salernitana to temporarily move 12 points ahead of the chasing pack.

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Goals from Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Victor Osimhen immediately either side of half-time made sure that Napoli will be at least nine points clear at the halfway point of the season after a straight-forward win in soaking Salerno.

"I'm proud to be the captain of this team. We have a group of amazing players who have had a brilliant first half of the season. We need to keep going with the same mentality to achieve our goal," Lorenzo said.

Luciano Spalletti's side now have to wait until their closest rivals AC Milan take on Champions League-chasing Lazio in Rome on Tuesday to know just how far in front they will be after collecting 50 points in 19 matches.

Inter Milan are a further point behind their city rivals and will move provisionally into second place if they beat Empoli on Monday.

Napoli do not have to worry about Juventus who had been ahead of Inter on goal difference but were docked 15 points on Friday for illicit use of transfers to boost their balance sheet.

Save the ruling being overturned on appeal later this year, Juve are out of the race, making Napoli's bid for a first league crown since 1990 that much simpler.