Atalanta 2-3 Napoli: Late Lukaku header sees leaders edge five-goal thriller

Romelu Lukaku came on late to give Napoli a huge victory in their quest for the Serie A title, with his header helping Antonio Conte's side to a 3-2 victory over Atalanta.

Napoli are now six points clear of Inter at the top of the standings, but Simone Inzaghi's side still have two games in hand at the Partenopei.

Mateo Retegui fired Atalanta into a 16th-minute lead, collecting Ederson's pass in the penalty area before firing the ball past Alex Meret's near post.

But Napoli went into half-time in front when Matteo Politano fired the ball into the roof of the net before Scott McTominay converted after Frank Anguissa's cutback.

Atalanta hit back through Ademola Lookman ten minutes after the restart after he beat Matteo Ruggeri's challenge before sending a left-footed strike past Meret.

However, with twelve minutes to go, Lukaku came up with the winner, brilliantly slotting Anguissa's cross into the area beyond Marco Carnesecchi's reach.

Napoli have won six straight games in Serie A for the first time under Conte as manager and for the first time since February 2023 (eight under Luciano Spalletti).

Data debriefing: pleasure for a day away

Much of the pre-match noise surrounded Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, but Napoli proved they can get results without him, enjoying another memorable game on the road.

Napoli have now won eight of their first eleven away games in a single season in Serie A (won eight, drawn two, lost one) for only the third time in their history. Napoli won ten in 2017/18 and nine in 2022/23. this phase of the season.

Conte's side have reached 50 points after their first 21 league games. Only three times have they had more after the same number of games in the Italian top flight (51 in 1987/88, 54 in 2017/18 and 56 in 2022/23).

And the victory was decided by their master marksman, with Lukaku now the only player to score more than five goals and provide more than five assists in Serie A this season (eight goals and six assists).

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