Napoli move up to second, Inter lose

ROME – Napoli jumped to second place in Serie A thanks to a laboured 1-0 win at lowly Cagliari while fellow title hopefuls Inter Milan suffered a 1-0 defeat at Parma in Monday’s late game.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik. Net photo.

ROME – Napoli jumped to second place in Serie A thanks to a laboured 1-0 win at lowly Cagliari while fellow title hopefuls Inter Milan suffered a 1-0 defeat at Parma in Monday’s late game.Napoli are within two points of leaders Juventus thanks to Marek Hamsik’s second-half goal which moved them above an Inter side undone by Nicola Sansone’s fine individual late strike.Juventus, who lost 1-0 at AC Milan on Sunday, have 32 points from 14 games with their lead cut from four points with Napoli now on 30 above Fiorentina and Inter who are level on 28.Napoli, without suspended striker Edinson Cavani and the injured Goran Pandev, made hard work of beating Cagliari, with Hamsik’s 73rd minute goal enough to earn the three points.Napoli were on the back foot for much of the second half but scored when Juan Zuniga ran into the box in the 72nd and found Hamsik who struck the ball past keeper Michael Agazzi, sparking Cagliari protests that the Slovakian was offside."It was a difficult game, but we did really well,” Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri told Sky Italia. "We suffered a bit during the second half, but I have to compliment my team.Inter’s recent mini-slump had seen them lose at Atalanta and draw against Cagliari and their fortunes were not about to improve at Parma, who have moved up to seventh on 20 points.