Goals by Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens handed Napoli a stunning 2-0 win over champions Juventus and sparked some life into the Serie A title race on Sunday.
Juventus had seen their 14-point lead cut back earlier in the day when Roma, in second with a game in hand, prevailed 2-0 at struggling Sassuolo.
Napoli came flying out the blocks and at the tail end of a dominant first half Callejon broke the deadlock in the 37th minute.
The pace slowed after the break but moments after replacing Marek Hamsik, Mertens made the most of Goran Pandev’s delivery to beat Gianluigi Buffon with a crisp drive from the edge of the area and condemn Juventus to just their second league defeat of the season.
Juve now lead Roma by 11 points with Napoli, who have been chasing the second automatic Champions League qualifying spot, still third but six points behind Roma and 12 ahead of Fiorentina.
Napoli coach Rafael Benitez told Sky Sport Italia: “There’s always little things we can improve on but on the whole we played really well, although I’d like to see this kind of concentration against the smaller teams as well.
“But the key to victory was ball possession. For Juve it was difficult to get back up the field without having the ball, although maintaining this kind of intensity over the whole season isn’t easy.”
Juve suffered their only other reverse in a 4-2 defeat away to Fiorentina in October.
Coach Antonio Conte said his side’s Europa League commitments had perhaps made the difference.
“We didn’t play well in the first half, although we improved somewhat in the second.
“But there are tired legs in my squad, that’s inevitable when you’ve been playing every three days and are unable to rotate due to injuries.”
Striker Gonzalo Higuain returned to the Napoli line-up after being rested for the 4-2 win at Catania in midweek, while Pablo Daniel Osvaldo replaced the suspended Carlos Tevez to partner Fernando Llorente in Juve’s attack.
The statistics, however, were all in favour of Juventus, who were unbeaten in their last six encounters with Napoli and had restricted the hosts to only one goal in their last four games.
Napoli enjoyed the early pressure with Buffon pulling off a great reflex save in the seventh minute to stop Callejon from close range and the Spaniard tested the ‘keeper again on the half hour when he picked up Lorenzo Insigne’s cutback after it missed Higuain.
Juve were seeing little of Pepe Reina’s goal and shortly before the interval Kwadwo Asamoah was caught out in a makeshift defensive role and Callejon ghosted in behind the Ghanaian midfielder to meet Lorenzo Insigne’s cross to beat Buffon from close range.
At the other end a spectacular bicycle kick from Osvaldo was well over the bar.
Asamoah made way for Mauricio Isla eight minutes after the restart and the Chilean almost made the difference immediately when he controlled well on the right to cross for Osvaldo, but Reina got down low to block.
On the hour, Hamsik won a free kick when his feint prompted Leonardo Bonucci to foul on the edge of the area and once again Juve had Buffon to thank for tipping Faouzi Ghoulam’s well-struck effort to safety.
Conte shook things up when he replaced Paul Pogba with Claudio Marchisio and minutes later Osvaldo made way for Mirko Vucinic.
Vucinic had to wait only moments before having a shot on goal when he collected Arturo Vidal’s short pass on the edge of the area only to curl wide of Reina’s upright.
With legs tiring, Higuain came off for Goran Pandev in the 73rd minute and Napoli had Ghoulam to thank when he ran back to block Isla as he teed up a shot to the right of goal following Vucinic’s through ball.
At the other end Hamsik was sent through by Pandev but Buffon had no trouble getting low to block the Slovakian’s tame shot from the edge of the area.
Hamsik made way for Mertens in the 78th minute and moments later the Belgian made no mistake when Pandev picked him out with a smart pass to beat Buffon with a crisp angled strike.
Roma cruised to their 2-0 away victory thanks to scores from Mattia Destro and former Al Ain man Michel Bastos, while Fiorentina, inescapably mired in fourth, were held to a scoreless draw away by Sampdoria.
Omar El Kaddouri and Alessio Cerci netted as Torino beat Cagliari 2-1, Lazio found an extra-time winner from Antonio Candreva for a 3-2 win over Parma and Luca Toni provided a double as Verona beat Genoa 3-0 on Sunday, as well.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
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9.30pm: Forever Young
