Napoli go top of Italian Serie A

Rome, Sep 15 (IANS)

Josè Maria Callejon of Napoli celebrates after scoring the goal 2-0 during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and Atalanta BC at Stadio San Paolo on September 14, 2013 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images)

Napoli beat Atalanta 2-0 to go top of Italian Serie A after Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw by Inter Milan.

Rafael Benitez’s Napoli were made to work hard for the points Saturday by a resilient Atalanta. They had to wait until the 71st minute when Gonzalo Higuain found the net. Three minutes later, the visitors’ hopes of equalising evaporated once Luca Cigarini was sent off for his second bookable offence, reports Xinhua.

Jose Callejon then wrapped up victory late in the match to extend Napoli’s 100 percent winning start to the season.

Meanwhile, Mauro Icardi scored his first goal for Inter midway through the second half to break the deadlock, but Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal equalised for Juventus with his 20th league goal for the Turin giants.

Inter head coach Walter Mazzarri was pleased with his side’s performance and content enough with the point against Juventus.

“We played on a par with a consolidated team, especially in the first half. After the break we even pushed for the victory, which is a big leap in such a short space of time together,” he said.

“I was interested in seeing this Inter. We had done very well against Genoa and Catania, but with all due respect they are not Juventus and I wanted to see how we’d approach this game,” he said.

Juventus head coach Antonio Conte believed that the draw showed Inter have the credentials to fight for the Scudetto with Juventus this season.

“We confirmed today that Inter can target the top of the table this season, while Juventus are very tough to beat,” he said.

“I saw my team play very well in a difficult arena against a side that has everything to compete right to the end, as they don’t have European commitments and therefore will have better fitness levels,” he said.

AC Milan came from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Torino. Mario Balotelli denied the hosts their first win over the Milan side in 12 years with the last kick of the game.