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Napoli continue strong start to Conte's reign after thrashing Cagliari in Serie A

Napoli were just too good for Cagliari this evening
Napoli were just too good for Cagliari this eveningProfimedia

Napoli moved, at least temporarily, to the top of Serie A with a 4-0 win against Cagliari at the Sardegna Arena, as Antonio Conte continued his own impressive run against the Islanders with 10 victories now in 14 encounters.

After a quiet start to the first half, Napoli took the lead inside 18 minutes through marauding centre-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo, whose deflected shot from the edge of the box wrong-footed Simone Scuffet and dribbled into the opposite corner.

Cagliari reacted well, as Paulo Azzi cut inside and unleashed a powerful strike that had to be tipped around the post by Alex Meret just moments later. 

After a delay midway through the half, Meret was on hand again to deny Roberto Piccoli’s downward header from close range, as the visitors maintained their half-time advantage.

Cagliari continued to threaten an equaliser early in the second half, as Meret saved Sebastiano Luperto’s diving header before brilliantly tipping Razvan Marin’s long-range strike onto the crossbar.

However, Napoli still possessed a threat themselves on the counter, and the deadly Khvicha Kvaratskhelia slotted cooly past Scuffet to double the Partenopei’s lead. 

A horror mistake at the back then allowed the Georgian to set up Romelu Lukaku, who accepted the gift and stroked into the bottom corner for a quickfire third - he has now scored seven goals in eight games against Cagliari.

There was even time for a fourth for the visitors in stoppage time, as Alessandro Buongiorno headed home from a corner to inflict more misery on the hosts, who failed to score for the third time already this season, as they dropped down to second-bottom with only one win in 27 H2Hs against Napoli.

In contrast, the visitors now boast three consecutive league victories under Conte, who maintains a 100% winning record against Cagliari boss Davide Nicola after four meetings.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)

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