Neres' double fires Napoli to top in Italy

Defending champions Napoli delivered a strong 3-1 victory against Atalanta on Saturday, reclaiming the top spot in Serie A with standout performances from their Brazilian attacker David Neres, who netted twice.

Napoli now hold 25 points at the summit, while Inter Milan, Bologna, and Roma trail with 24 points each. Inter are set to face AC Milan, and Roma will play Cremonese on Sunday.

Coming off a defeat to Bologna in their previous outing, Napoli swiftly took control, leading 3-0 by half-time. Neres opened the scoring in the 17th minute and added another in the 38th, before Nao Lang headed in the third goal just before the interval.

Atalanta responded early in the second half, with Gianluca Scamacca scoring in the 52nd minute to make it 3-1, but they struggled to create more chances. The team from Bergamo currently occupy 13th position with 13 points from 12 fixtures.

Bologna secured an impressive 3-0 triumph away to Udinese earlier that day, joining Inter Milan and Roma on 24 points.

Bologna, in fine form, wasted a penalty kick during the opening period but recovered as Tommaso Pobega bagged a quickfire double around the 60th minute, overwhelming Udinese. Federico Bernardeschi then completed the scoring in added time.

The other morning clash in Sardinia saw Cagliari and Genoa end in an exciting 3-3 stalemate, marked by constant momentum shifts.

Luciano Spalletti led his Juventus team to face bottom-of-the-table Fiorentina, where they grabbed a lead near the end of the first half via a stunning long-distance effort from Filip Kostic.

Fiorentina equalised soon after the restart, as Rolando Mandragora rifled a shot into the top corner from range, rescuing a point for the struggling hosts in a 1-1 draw.

Inter Milan, boasting 11 wins in their previous 12 outings across all tournaments, emerge as frontrunners for the Scudetto title.