It was more target practice for high-scoring Napoli in a 3-0 win over Cagliari on Sunday that extended the southern club's perfect record in Serie A.
Captain Marek Hamsik ended his scoring drought, Dries Mertens got his seventh goal in seven matches and Kalidou Koulibaly also found the net for the Partenopei.
Napoli has now outscored the opposition 25-5 by producing at least three goals in each of the club's Italian league games this season.
Coach Maurizio Sarri's side was two points above Inter Milan after the Nerazzurri won 2-1 at last-place Benevento.
Six-time defending champion Juventus had a chance to extend its perfect record later at Atalanta.
Having finished in the top three spots in five of the last seven seasons, Napoli is looking more and more like it could win its first title since Diego Maradona led the club to its only two Serie A championships in 1987 and 1990.
But Sarri remains cautious.
"It's been six years that people have been saying we could bother Juventus but in the end they still win, which means that they're still a step above everyone else," the coach said.
"We've played seven matches, which is just 40 days of the season. Let's see how things develop long-term. Anyone can do it for a month, few for six months and only one squad for a year," Sarri added. "I saw signs of growth today but it will be continuity that will tell us if we've really improved."
Hamsik scored his first of the season four minutes in at the San Paolo stadium with a low, angled shot after trading passes with Mertens.
It was Hamsik's 114th goal in all competitions for Napoli, moving him within one score of Maradona's club record.
Mertens earned a penalty and converted the spot kick to double the advantage before the break and Koulibaly added another two minutes into the second half from within the box after a free kick was floated in.
Napoli was coming off a 3-1 win over Feyenoord in the Champions League.
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BENEVENTO BLUES
Attempting to shake off the label of "worst squad in Europe's five major leagues," Benevento deserved more against Inter.
The southern club hit both the crossbar and post but couldn't overcome two early goals from Marcelo Brozovic, the second of which was a perfectly curled free kick.
Marco D'Alessandro pulled one back for Benevento before the break with an angled shot that went in off the post after a slight deflection from Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic. It was Benevento's second goal this season — against 18 conceded.
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RACIST CHANTS
Fourth-place Lazio came back from a goal down to beat visiting Sassuolo 6-1 with braces from Luis Alberto and Marco Parolo, plus goals from Stefan de Vrij and Ciro Immobile.
The match was marred, however, by racist chants from Lazio fans directed at Sassuolo players Claud Adjapong and Alfred Duncan.
Lucas Castro also had a brace for Chievo Verona, which overcame an early goal from Giovanni "Cholito" Simeone in a 2-1 win over Fiorentina.
Hellas Verona scored two late goals for a 2-2 draw at Torino and Spal and Crotone drew 1-1.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2ws8rJF
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