Hojlunds brace propels Napoli above Juventus to lead Serie A

Rasmus Hojlund propelled Napoli to the summit of Serie A by scoring both goals in their 2-1 victory against Juventus on Sunday, leaving former favourite Luciano Spalletti without a win at the venue of his biggest success.

The Danish forward nodded in the decisive strike with 12 minutes left at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

The 22 year old also gave Napoli an early lead in Naples, marking his first goal for the club since the winning strike versus Genoa at the start of October.

Napoli now hold a one point advantage over Inter Milan, having inflicted Joves first league loss since Spalletti assumed control of the Turin side towards the end of October.

Juventus sit eight points adrift of the leaders after 14 games, as Spalletti, who guided Napoli to their first Scudetto in more than three decades back in 2023, faces challenges in moulding his latest squad.

Juventus appeared poised for a positive outcome when Kenan Yildiz calmly slotted in his sixth goal of the campaign following a superb exchange with Weston McKennie.

Up until that moment, Juventus had dominated the second half yet could not build on their advantage.

It was McKennie who gifted Hojlund his opportunity by weakly heading a hopeful delivery straight to the robust striker, who finished effortlessly from near range.

Roma, beaten by Napoli the previous weekend, slipped further in the championship chase with a tough 1-0 defeat at Cagliari.

Reduced to 10 players for much of the second half after Zeki Celik fouled Michael Folorunsho while the Cagliari player advanced on goal, Roma departed Sardinia empty handed thanks to Gianluca Gaetanos tidy effort from a corner in the 82nd minute.

Bologna trail Roma by two points in fifth position following a 1-1 stalemate against Romas other side Lazio, with Jens Odgaard nudging in the equaliser five minutes prior to half time.

Lazios point means promoted Cremonese, who secured a 2-0 triumph over Lecce in the afternoons opener, will occupy a spot in the upper half of the standings by the conclusion of this matchday.

Davide Niclas side triumphed via Federico Bonazzolis spot kick and Antonios Sanabrias debut goal for Cremonese, both arriving after the interval.