After Juventus beat Genoa 1-0 to retake the lead in Serie A, Napoli snatched it right back with a 2-0 win over Lazio. Two first half goals, both three minutes apart, from Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon was enough to give Napoli all three points.
Napoli start off great
Knowing that anything less than a win would be disastrous as they try to keep ahead of Juve, Napoli put their foot to the pedal from the start of the game. The first chance went to the away side as Gonazlo Higuain shot from just outside the box forced a save from Lazio goalie Federico Marchetti in the 7th minute.
The injury stricken Lazio team had a very tough time in the attack as they failed to register a shot on goal for the entire game. Their first shot came in extra time in the 45th minute when Mauricio's header went high over the bar after a set piece. It was a very tough time for Lazio as they struggled to get the ball forward and had only 41% possession.
Napoli struck the back of the net first in the 24th when Gonzalo Higuain found himself one on one with the goalie inside the six yard box. His intial shot was saved but he smashed home the rebound to give him his 23rd goal of the season and it continues his great run of 23 goals in 23 appearances in Serie A. But Napoli weren't done yet.
Three minutes later Jose Callejon found the back of the net when a Lorenzo Insigne pass put him on goal and he calmly finished to make it 2-0 to the away side. That was most of the action as Napoli took a two goal advantage into halftime.
Napoli cruise to victory but not without controversy
The second half saw more of the same from Napoli although they had to deal with a barrage of Lazio shots that weren't on target.
Lazio had seven shots in the second half and the best came in the 88th minute when defender Wesley Hoedt had three of his shots blocked consecutively inside the box.
The best chance of the second half came when David Lopez had his shot blocked in the 80th minute inside the box.
Napoli decided to rest many of the normal starters as Higuain, Marek Hamsik, and Insigne were all subbed off in the second half as they continued to control possession and Lazio didn't seem to have an answer.
A really horrible part of the game took place when the game was suspended in the 67th minute due to racist chants directed at Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly. The game was stopped for a few minutes as officials and even Lazio's own players went to their fan section to try and restore order. The game started after a few minutes but the reason of the stoppage is a troubling one.
In the end it was a 2-0 win for Napoli as they took all three points.