An Edinson Cavani hat-trick handed Napoli a 3-0 win over Lazio to keep pace with Serie A leaders Juventus as Milan finally broke their San Siro jinx by beating Cagliari 2-0 at home last night.
Cavani’s first-half brace and third goal just after the hour meant Walter Mazzarri’s side join Juve in remaining unbeaten after five games, and put the Uruguayan top of the scoring charts on five goals.
Juventus had led Napoli by three points after their first draw of the season away to an impressive Fiorentina on Tuesday. Juventus and Napoli now sit joint top with 13 points and boasting the exact same goals for/against figures.
With Inter winning 2-0 away to Chievo and Sampdoria drawing away to Roma, it means Lazio drop to fifth with Milan moving up to 10th after their first home win of the season.
Napoli had managed to beat Lazio only once in their last seven league encounters and early on it appeared the visitors had opened the scoring after German international Miroslav Klose bundled the ball into the net.
But after Napoli players reacted furiously, Klose admitted he had given the ball a helping hand over the line and the goal was disallowed.
It took Cavani only 19 minutes to settle nerves when he unleashed a long-distance missile which crucially deflected off Michael Ciani to beat the helpless Federico Marchetti.
Cavani grabbed his second by beating the offside trap to send a rocket over the top of the outstretched Marchetti on the half hour.
The Uruguayan then ran down on goal unchallenged and dribbled around Marchetti to score his third just after the hour mark.
Cavani could have had a fourth from the spot after second-half substitute Lorenzo Insigne won a penalty, however the Uruguayan skied his effort over the bar.
While Inter chalked up an important win away to Chievo to move up fourth, it was city rivals Milan who grabbed the San Siro bragging rights.
Neither team had won at the shared stadium this season, leading Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri to come under huge pressure in recent weeks.
Ironically, the 45-year-old coach was serving a touchline ban for protests made to match officials on Sunday when his team finally turned the corner and moved up to a far more respectable 10th position.
Italy under-21 striker Stephan El Shaarawy provided both goals for the Rossoneri in a match which saw Brazilian Robinho, who has finally recovered from injury, come off the bench in the second half.
Roma, who on Monday were handed a 3-0 home win by league chiefs after the enforced postponement of their away match to Cagliari, took a first-half lead through Francesco Totti.
However, Gianni Munari stunned the Olympic stadium with a 62nd-minute equaliser and 10-man Sampdoria held on for a draw which means they are still unbeaten this season and in third place one point ahead of Inter.
Serie A
Summaries
Catania 2
Spolli 52; Barrientos 65;
Atalanta 1
Moralez 50;
HT: 0-0. Att: 15,000.
Chievo 0
Inter 2
Pereira 43; Cassano 74;
HT: 0-1. Att: 15,000.
Genoa 1
Borriello 88 pen;
Parma 1
Lucarelli 27;
HT: 0-1. Att: 17,000.
Missed penalty: Borriello (G) 67.
Milan 2
El Shaarawy 16, 82;
Cagliari 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 45,000.
Red card: Conti (C) 66.
Napoli 3
Cavani 19, 30, 64;
Lazio 0
HT: 2-0. Att: 30,000.
Missed penalty: Cavani (N) 76.
Pescara 1
Weiss 87;
Palermo 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 11,411.
Red card: Von Bergen (PAL) 35.
Roma 1
Totti 35;
Sampdoria 1
Munari 62;
HT: 1-0. Att: 37,125.
Red card: Maresca (S) 46.
Torino 0
Udinese 0
Att: 19,000.
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 13 |
| Napoli | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 13 |
| Sampdoria (-1) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 10 |
| Inter | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 9 |
| Lazio | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 9 |
| Fiorentina | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| Roma | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 8 |
| Catania | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Genoa | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Milan | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Torino (-1) | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Atalanta (-2) | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Parma | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Udinese | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 5 |
| Bologna | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 4 |
| Pescara | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 4 |
| Chievo | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| Cagliari | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 2 |
| Palermo | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| Siena (-6) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | -1 |
Playing today
Siena vs Bologna - 20.45
Next fixtures
Saturday
Parma vs Milan - 18.00
Juventus vs Roma - 20.45
Sunday (15.00 unless stated)
Atalanta vs Torino
Bologna vs Catania
Cagliari vs Pescara
Inter vs Fiorentina - 20.45
Lazio vs Siena
Palermo vs Chievo
Sampdoria vs Napoli
Udinese vs Genoa - 12.30
Top scorers
5 goals: Cavani (Napoli).
4 goals: Jovetic (Fiorentina).
3 goals: Hernanes (Lazio), Klose (Lazio), Pazzini (Milan), Lopez (Sampdoria), Gilardino (Bologna), Cassano (Inter), El Shaarawy (Milan).