Napoli wins with emotions and keeps chances for the “scudetto” » How the Serie A standings look
Article by Dragoș Petrescu – Published Saturday, January 17, 2026, 9:40 p.m. / Updated Saturday, January 17, 2026, 9:41 p.m.
Naples imposed itself at the limit on its own ground in front of the newly-promoted Sassuoloscore 1-0, in a duel of the round with number #21 in Serie A, thus managing to stay in the cards for the title fight.
The complete program of stage #21 of Serie A
After three consecutive draws, Antonio Conte's team once again felt the sweet taste of victory in the championship, at the end of an extremely complicated match.
Lobotka scores the goal that keeps Napoli in the scudetto fight
“I Ciucciarellii” started the game well, managing to score after only seven minutes from the starting whistle of the “central” Francesco Forneau.
Slovakian Stanislav Lobotka was the one to score for Napoli, sending a real torpedo from outside the box that goalkeeper Muric could not intervene.
However, this goal turned out to be the only one of the game, as all subsequent attacks by the home team failed. On the other hand, Sassuolo were extremely dangerous in Milnkovic-Savic's box on several occasions, especially in the second act, but in the end the champions' defense held out.
Even so, this match also brought bad news for Napoli. Stopper Amir Rrahmani and midfielder Eljif Elmas were injured and had to leave the field. Thus, it seems that the long list of unavailability of the Neapolitans continues to expand.
In addition to the two, Conte does not currently have Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Zambo Anguissa, David Neres, Billy Gilmour and goalkeeper Alex Meret available.
Following this result, the Italian champions remain in 3rd position in the standings and return to six lengths behind the leader Inter, with 43 points. Second place is occupied by Milan, with the same score but with a higher goal difference than Conte's team.
On the other hand, today's visitors are currently on 12th with 23 points.
In the upcoming Serie A stage, Napoli will have an extremely difficult duel with Juventus in Turin, while Sassuolo will receive a visit from Cremonese.
Until then, however, the Neapolitans will go to Denmark, for the duel with FC Copenhagen in the Champions League. The game will take place on Tuesday, January 20, from 22:00.
Serie A standings:
Napoli – Sassuolo » Starting teams:
NAPLES (3-4-3): Milinkovic-Savic – Beukema, Rrahmani, J. Jesus – Di Lorenzo, Lobotka, McTominay, Spinazzola – Vergara, Hojlund, Elmas
reserves: Contini, Ferrante – Ambrosino, Buongiorno, Gutierrez, Lang, Lucca, Marianucci, Mazzocchi, Olivera, Politano
Coach: Cristian Stellini (Antonio Conte was suspended)
SASSUOLO (4-3-3): Muric – Walukiewicz, Idzes, Muharemovic, Doig – Lipani, Matic, Vranckx – Fadera, Pinamonti, Lauriente
reserves: Satalino, Turati, Zacchi – Cheddira, Coulibaly, Frangella, Iannoni, Moro, Odenthal, Paz, Pierini, Romagna, Skjellerup
Coach: Fabio Grosso
Stadium: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (Naples)
Referee: Francesco Forneau
