Napoli defeated Torino 2-1 in a match played this afternoon at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium, for the 28th matchday of Serie A, the top tier of Italian football. According to the Argentine News Agency, the home side secured the victory with goals from forward Alisson Santos in the first six minutes of the first half and midfielder Eljif Elmas in the 22nd minute of the second half, while the final consolation goal was scored by midfielder Cesare Casadei in the 41st minute of the second half. With the win in the match that opened round 28 of Italian football, Napoli reached third place in the standings with 56 points and solidified their position in the UEFA Champions League qualification zone, while their rival, whose goal was scored by midfielder Cesare Casadei, is fourteenth with 30 points, six above the relegation zone. The first goal came in the sixth minute of the first half, when Brazilian forward Alisson Santos dribbled down the left side of the attack, cut inside, and fired a low shot to the near post from the edge of the area, which goalkeeper Alberto Paleari could not stop. The visitors had their first dangerous attack in the 16th minute of the first half, with a volley from the edge of the area by midfielder Nikola Vlasic, who took advantage of a rebound, but his cross-shot lacked power and was saved by Serbian goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. Alisson created a similar moment of danger in the 14th minute of the second half, with another individual play followed by a low shot to the near post, which this time was less angled and was saved by goalkeeper Alberto Paleari. The home side extended their lead when it was 22 minutes in, with a cross from the left to the far post that was headed down by midfielder Matteo Politano, allowing a volley from the penalty spot by Elmas, which went in off the right post of Paleari. The visitors pulled one back four minutes from the end of the match, with a short corner to the near post that was flicked on towards the edge of the six-yard box by forward Che Adams, where Cesare Casadei appeared to head the ball into the net. Matchday 28 will continue this Saturday with the matches Cagliari-Como; Atalanta-Udinese and Juventus-Pisa, while on Sunday Lecce-Cremonese; Fiorentina-Parma; Bologna-Verona and Genoa-Roma will play, and on Monday it will conclude with Lazio-Sassuolo. Inter will play against Milan this Sunday. The match, scheduled for 4:45 PM (Argentine time), will be held at the stadium shared by both clubs, San Siro, on this occasion Milan will be the home team, and it can be watched via ESPN and Disney+ Premium. With the intention of leaving behind a tough elimination in the UEFA Champions League playoffs suffered against Norwegian Bodo Glimt, with a 5-2 aggregate score, Inter has all its attention focused on Serie A. Being the leader of Italian football, with 67 points in 27 matches after 22 wins, one draw and only four defeats, the 'Nerazzurri' arrive at the derby with seven consecutive victories in the tournament and a 10-point lead over their main competitor, which is precisely Milan. On the other hand, the red and black team will need a win to stay in the title race, as a defeat would leave them 13 points behind with 10 matchdays to play, a distance that could be fatal for their aspirations to win their twentieth 'Scudetto' in history. The last edition of the Milan derby was played on November 23 of last year, for the 12th matchday of the Italian tournament, and saw the team captained by goalkeeper Mike Maignan win 1-0, who will seek to repeat the feat to keep the championship dream alive. Furthermore, in a 28th matchday that began this afternoon, Napoli defeated Torino 2-1, with goals from forward Alisson Santos and midfielder Eljif Elmas, to reach third place in the standings with 56 points and secure a spot in the Champions League zone, while Torino, whose goal was scored by midfielder Cesare Casadei, is fourteenth with 30 points, six above the relegation zone.
