Napoli back atop Serie A to end 2024

ROME, Italy:

Napoli went through three different coaches during their Serie A title defence last season and ended the campaign in 10th place.

Antonio Conte was hired in July and now Napoli are ending 2024 level with Atalanta atop the Italian league again, on 41 points.

Substitute Giacomo Raspadori scored a late goal and Napoli beat relegation-threatened Venezia 1-0 yesterday in their final match of the year.

Napoli trail Atalanta only on goal difference but both teams are one point ahead of defending champions Inter Milan, who have a game in hand.

"Even if I play cards with my daughter I want to win," said Conte, who was hired to get Napoli back into the Champions League. "Personally, I don't accept minimal goals. But we all know where we started and what the club's objectives are."

Atalanta drew 1-1 at Lazio on Saturday and Inter won 3-0 at Cagliari.

Also yesterday, Juventus (32) and Fiorentina (32) drew 2-2 in a match that was briefly suspended because of discriminatory chants aimed at Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic.

In the late match, AC Milan and Roma played out a 1-1 draw. Tijani Reijnders gave Milan the lead at the 16th minute, but Pablo Dybala equalised at the 23rd minute to earn Roma a share of the spoils. AC Milan are eighth on 27 points, while Roma are 10th on 20 points.

After Luciano Spalletti coached Napoli to the Serie A title in 2022-23, Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri and Francesco Calzona managed the team last season, when the Partenopei finished a whopping 41 points behind Inter.

LONG WAY

"What happened is in the past. The present is what counts," Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. "It's great to be back on top but there's still a long way to go."

Napoli had struggled to get the ball past Venezia goalkeeper Filip Stankovic, the son of former Lazio and Inter standout Dejan Stankovic. But Raspadori broke the deadlock in the 79th when he used one touch to fire in a loose ball from the centre of the area less than 10 minutes after he came on.

"These are tough matches where it means a lot to come away with three points," Raspadori said. "We know we're on the right path."

In the first half, Stankovic saved a penalty kick from Romelu Lukaku. Then in the second half Stankovic deflected a shot from Lukaku off the post.

Napoli produced 25 shots to Venezia's four.

Napoli's 27 goals scored are the least among the top six teams in the standings.

"The squad is improving under every point of view. We just need to score more goals," Conte said.

Earlier, Torino came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Udinese.

- AP