Napoli takes control of Serie A without unsettled star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

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This article was published 12/01/2025 (632 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MILAN (AP) — Without injured and unsettled star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Napoli still took control of Serie A on Sunday.

Napoli coach Antonio Conte confirmed the previous day that Kvaratskhelia — nicknamed “Kvaradona” by the fans in homage to Diego Maradona — had asked to leave the club, with Paris Saint-Germain the likely destination.

His current teammates did not let themselves be affected by the controversy as they beat lowly Hellas Verona 2-0 to move four points clear of Inter Milan after the defending champion moved into second place earlier with a 1-0 win at Venezia.

Atalanta was third after it was held 0-0 at Udinese on Saturday. Inter has played two fewer matches than Napoli and one less than Atalanta.

Kvaratskhelia was out of Sunday’s match in Naples through injury anyway, saving Conte from perhaps a difficult choice.

Verona had beaten Napoli 3-0 in Conte’s first league match in charge.

But there was no such danger this time as Napoli took the lead in the fifth minute. Giovanni Di Lorenzo played a one-two with Romelu Lukaku and then curled in a shot that hit the left post and went in off the back of Lorenzo Montipò, going down as an own-goal from the Verona goalkeeper.

Frank Anguissa should have doubled Napoli’s lead seconds later but he blazed over the bar from seven yards, falling to his feet and clutching his face after the miss.

He made up for it in the 61st minute with a spectacular goal as he cut inside from the right, played a one-two with Lukaku and then drove the ball powerfully into the near side of the net from outside the area.

Inter bounces back

Inter Milan bounced back from a demoralizing Italian Super Cup loss but it was harder than might have been expected at relegation-threatened Venezia.

Inter lost the Italian Super Cup final to city rival AC Milan in Saudi Arabia on Monday after throwing away a 2-0 lead.

It was also facing an injury crisis Sunday as several key players either could not make the trip to Venice or were only fit for a place on the bench.

Inter took the lead in the 16th minute when Lautaro Martínez showed fantastic control on a long ball over the top. His volley was parried by Filip Stankovic but Matteo Darmian turned in the rebound

Stankovic, who is the son of Inter hero Dejan and also on loan from the Nerazzurri, pulled off a number of fine saves against his parent club.

Venezia almost leveled in the 74th but United States international Gianluca Busio curled a fine attempt off the base of the far post.

Inter held on for its sixth straight away victory without conceding a goal.

Venezia remained 19th in the 20-team standings, five points from safety.

First home victory for Genoa

New Genoa owner Dan Sucu was in the stands to see the team beat Parma 1-0 in a relegation fight, for its first league home win of the season.

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It needed a huge slice of luck as Morten Frendrup’s strike took a huge deflection off Parma defender Enrico Delprato to give Genoa the lead in the 65th minute.

Genoa moved four points above Parma and five away from the relegation zone.

Roma forward Artem Dovbyk converted a penalty with the last kick of the match, in the eighth minute of stoppage time, to snatch a 2-2 draw at Bologna.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer