Napoli preserved their status as Serie A’s only unbeaten home side with a 2-1 win over Torino at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with goals from Alisson Santos and Eljif Elmas doing the damage.
The hosts started brightly and put the Torino goalkeeper Alberto Paleari under immediate pressure. He produced a fine save to deny Mathias Olivera from close range after a poorly cleared corner, but was beaten shortly after when Alisson’s skimming effort from the edge of the box crept in at the near post for his second goal since arriving on loan from Sporting CP in January.
Torino showed some fight in response. Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had to be sharp to stop Nikola Vlasic from tapping in, and the Croatian then tested the keeper from distance. Newly-appointed manager Roberto D’Aversa could count himself fortunate to reach half-time only one goal behind, with his side coming under sustained pressure throughout. Rasmus Hojlund went closest to doubling Napoli’s advantage before the break, but sent a header just over.The second half followed a similar pattern.
Paleari partly made up for his earlier error with two more saves from Alisson’s long-range attempts, and also denied Hojlund after the Dane had cleverly spun his marker in the box.A defender was needed on the line to keep out Alessandro Buongiorno in the 66th minute, but Napoli’s pressure finally told two minutes later when Elmas netted against the club he represented on loan last season.
The afternoon was rounded off by the long-awaited return of Kevin De Bruyne, sidelined since October, who came on as a substitute for the closing stages. His comeback was made slightly nervy when Cesare Casadei pulled one back for Torino late on, and Che Adams came close to snatching a point, but Napoli held on.
The win moves Napoli five points clear of fourth-placed Roma, though they have played one game more. Torino remain 14th, six points above the drop zone, and are still without back-to-back league wins since Christmas Day.
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