Napoli's Scudetto aspirations dashed following home defeat to Lazio

Inter's victory against Cagliari the previous evening left Antonio Conte's team with no choice but to secure a win to maintain their slim chances of claiming the Scudetto, but a sluggish beginning allowed them to concede first.

Lazio demonstrated their danger on the left flank several times within the initial five minutes, but Napoli ignored the signals and watched as Mattia Zaccagni set up the overlapping Kenneth Taylor, who then passed across for Matteo Cancellieri to finish from near the line.

Not all was lost for the Partenopei, given their league-leading record of 13 points recovered after falling behind by one goal this season, but even with intense pressure applied, they found it hard to test Lazio goalkeeper Edoardo Motta and entered the break without a single effort on goal.

The situation might have deteriorated much more for Napoli without the outstanding saves from goalkeeper Vanja Milinković-Savić, who stopped attempts from Cancellieri and Nuno Tavares, and also kept out a penalty from Zaccagni.

Stanislav Lobotka received a booking for tripping Tijjani Noslin during a counter-attack, but Zaccagni, still searching for his first goal in 2026, saw his weak penalty comfortably stopped by the home sides Serbian keeper.

Even after making two changes at the interval, Napoli encountered identical problems in the second half. Taylor advanced through the centre of their backline and missed narrowly to the side, yet this was merely a brief respite as Lazio increased their lead just shy of the hour.

Noslin advanced along the left and crossed for Cancellieri, who mishandled the open net opportunity, but his error was covered when the loose ball fell to Toma Bašić, who converted neatly.

In retaliation, the energetic Alisson Santos compelled Motta to make his initial significant save of the match with a fierce strike towards the post, while Tavares could have extended the visitors lead substantially yet blazed over from Noslin's pull-back.

In the end, Napoli showed no signs of a potential recovery, and their inability to achieve a first league double over Lazio since the 2021/22 campaign effectively hands the Serie A crown to Inter. For their part, just a second triumph in seven league trips away lifts Maurizio Sarri's squad back to ninth position.