Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain scored early with an acrobatic volley, his fifth goal in three league games, to set them on the way to a 2-0 win over sluggish Roma in Serie A yesterday.

Roma’s defeat in the big game of the weekend in Italy allowed Juventus to pull three points clear at the top after a 2-0 win at Empoli thanks to an Andrea Pirlo free-kick and Alvaro Morata’s strike.

The champions, who lost for the first time in the league this season at Genoa in midweek, were made to work hard for their win with both goals coming in the second half.

Napoli, who have picked up speed after a slow start to the campaign, moved up to third place on 18 points from 10 games, four behind the second-placed Romans.

The hosts went ahead in the third minute when Lorenzo Insigne’s long-range effort was deflected off a defender and Argentina’s Higuain, with his back to play, leapt to hook the ball spectacularly into the net.

The goal made Napoli fans quickly forget his missed late penalty in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Atalanta and calmed the atmosphere inside the San Paolo as the sides met for the first time since a fan was shot before May’s Italian Cup final.

Napoli supporter Ciro Esposito died in hospital in June and police were out in full force to prevent any notable violence.

On the field, Jose Callejon and Marek Hamsik both hit the crossbar and Napoli went close again when Kalidou Koulibaly powered down the right and played in Callejon.

The Spaniard dinked the ball over former Napoli keeper Morgan De Sanctis but his effort was so delicate that Radja Nainggolan had time to clear.

Hero Nainggolan then became the villain when he lost possession in the centre circle and the ball was fed to the left flank where Higuain’s incisive cross into the area saw Callejon get there first to finally turn it into the net.

“This was a win for a team who work alongside their fans, this is the key, everyone together and united, in this way we can win lots of games,” Napoli boss Rafa Benitez told reporters given his side’s inconsistencies this term and fan tensions.

Juve’s Pirlo broke the deadlock on the hour at lowly Empoli in trademark style, his free-kick drifting over the wall and in, although the keeper could probably have done better.

Carlos Tevez, given a partial rest, came off the bench and almost immediately made an impact as he teed up Morata for the second.

Lorenzo Tonelli fouled Tevez late on to receive his marching orders.

Parma moved off the bottom place thanks to a 2-0 over Inter in the late kick-off.

Paolo De Ceglie scored both goals for Parma to pile the pressure on Inter coach Walter Mazzarri as the Nerazzurri fell 10 points behind leaders Juventus.

Serie A

Napoli 2
Higuain 3; Callejon 85;
Roma 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 30,157.

Empoli 0
Juventus 2
Pirlo 60; Morata 72;

HT: 0-0. Att: 16,000.
Red card: Tonelli (E) 90.

Parma 2
De Ceglie 5, 76;
Inter 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 10,000.

  P W D L F A Pts
Juventus 10 8 1 1 18 4 25
Roma 10 7 1 2 16 6 22
Napoli 10 5 2 2 19 12 18
Lazio 9 5 1 3 16 9 16
Milan 9 4 4 1 18 12 16
Sampdoria 9 4 4 1 9 5 16
Udinese 9 5 1 3 11 9 16
Inter 10 4 3 3 15 12 15
Genoa 9 4 3 2 10 8 15
Fiorentina 9 3 4 2 9 6 13
Verona 9 3 3 3 10 15 12
Torino 9 3 2 4 7 9 11
Sassuolo 9 2 4 3 10 15 10
Cagliari 9 2 3 4 14 12 9
Palermo 9 2 3 4 9 17 9
Atalanta 9 2 2 5 4 11 8
Empoli 10 1 4 5 10 18 7
Parma 10 2 0 8 14 21 6
Cesena 9 1 3 5 6 15 6
Chievo 9 1 1 7 6 15 4

Playing today
Chievo vs Sassuolo
Milan vs Palermo - 20.45
Sampdoria vs Fiorentina
Torino vs Atalanta
Udinese vs Genoa

Tomorrow
Cesena vs Verona - 19.00
Lazio vs Cagliari - 21.00

Next Serie A fixtures

Saturday: 18.00 Sassuolo vs Atalanta. 20.45 Sampdoria vs Milan.

Sunday: 12.30 Cagliari vs Genoa. 15.00 Chievo vs Cesena; Empoli vs Lazio; Juventus vs Parma; Palermo vs Udinese. 18.00 Fiorentina vs Napoli. 20.45 Inter vs Verona; Roma vs Torino.

Serie B
Avellino vs Catania - 1-0
Carpi vs Vicenza - 1-0
Crotone vs Perugia - 2-1
Entella vs Lanciano - 0-0
Livorno vs Bologna - 3-2
Pescara vs Spezia - 1-2
Pro Vercelli vs Bari - 3-0
Ternana vs Cittadella - 1-1
Trapani vs Brescia - 3-2

Playing today
Latina vs Frosinone - 12.30
Varese vs Modena - 18.00

Standings: Carpi 24; Livorno, Bologna, Trapani 21; Spezia, Avellino 20; Frosinone, Virtus Lanciano 19; Pro Vercelli, Perugia 17; Bari 16; Modena 15; Brescia 14; Catania, Varese (-1), Entella 12; Cittadella, Ternana 11; Pescara, Crotone, Vicenza 10; Latina 9.

Lega Pro

Group A: Pavia vs  Torres 1-1; Mantova vs FeralpiSalo 1-0; Real Vicenza vs Cremonese 1-1; Renate vs Novara 1-3; Pro Patria vs Bassano 2-2.

Group B: Prato vs Forli 3-1; Pisa vs San Marino 1-0; Spal vs L’ Aquila 0-3; Teramo vs Pro Piacenza 1-1.

Group C: Paganese vs Barletta 2-1; Juve Stabia vs Lupa Roma 2-0; Martina vs Melfi 0-0; Casertana vs Ischia 3-1.

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