Diego Maradona Giovanni Di-Lorenzo Luciano Spalletti Italy Naples Nigeria Sandi Lazio Diego Maradona Giovanni Di-Lorenzo Luciano Spalletti Italy Naples Nigeria Sandi

Napoli emulate Diego Maradona after ending long Serie A title wait

thenationalnews.com

Napoli finally ended their long wait to win Serie A on Thursday, joining late club legend Diego Maradona in the history books by being crowned Italian champions with a record-equalling five matches to play.

A 1-1 draw at Udinese gave Napoli the point they needed to end 33 years of waiting and spark wild celebrations among the thousands of fans in Udine, at the Stadio Maradona in Naples and all around southern Italy's biggest city.

Supporters streamed onto the pitch at the Dacia Arena to celebrate after a season dominated by Luciano Spalletti's side, creating moments of tension with home fans not happy at such open partying on their ground.

Victor Osimhen scored the decisive goal in the second half as Napoli's current stars came back from trailing to Sandi Lovric's opener at half time and emulated the teams led by Maradona which won the league in 1987 and 1990. "To be compared to him, to be the captain after Maradona to lift the Scudetto, I just have no words," said skipper Giovanni Di Lorenzo. "This isn't my title, it belongs to every player and the people who worked to make our dream come true." Spalletti and his squad will receive an emotional welcome when they return to Naples, where the city-wide partying is set to continue to until at least their next home fixture against Fiorentina on Sunday evening. "Seeing Neapolitans happy is enough to give you a sense of that joy they are feeling," Spalletti told DAZN on the verge of tears. "These people will look to this moment when life gets hard, they have every right to celebrate like this.

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Napoli fans hailed the return of their Serie A title-winning heroes on Sunday as Victor Osimhen shot Napoli to a 1-0 win over Fiorentina in their first home match since being crowned kings of Italy for the first time in 33 years. Nigeria striker Osimhen lashed home the winning penalty in the 74th minute, after missing from the spot just after half-time, to take his league-leading tally to 23 just a few days after netting the goal which sealed Napoli's third Scudetto with a record-equalling five matches to play. The 24-year-old is now the highest scoring African player in the history of Serie A after overtaking George Weah and lapped up the applause of Napoli fans as the team did their post-match lap of honour.
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