Napoli took all three points at the Stadio Dall’Ara in Bologna thanks to a Hirving Lozano brace and saw Victor Osimhen return to action after almost two months.
The Partenopei returned to the pitch four days after their defeat in a Coppa Italia Round of 16 tie against Fiorentina.
They were without starting goalkeeper David Ospina and captain Lorenzo Insigne who are both injured.
Kalidou Koulibaly, Adam Ounas and Zambo Anguissa are on Africa Cup of Nations duty, but Luciano Spalletti saw Fabian Ruiz and Piotr Zielinski return to the Partenopei XI.
Napoli dominated the possession at the Dall’Ara and Lozano came close to scoring before getting his name on the scoresheet after 20 minutes.
Eljif Elmas put in a great assist from the left with Lozano finding the net at the far post with a nice left-foot finish.
Fabian almost made it two for the Azzurri but hit the woodwork with a curler from the edge of the box.
However, the Spaniard assisted Lozano two minutes into the second half with the Mexico international rounding Skorupski and putting the ball inside an empty net.
Napoli pushed for the third one and continued to dominate the possession. They appealed for a penalty kick for a foul on Fabian, but the referee waved to play on.
Victor Osimhen was introduced as a substitute in the second half, returning to action wearing a protective mask less than two months after suffering a cheekbone injury.
Bologna’s Nicolas Dominguez also came off the bench in the second half and came close to scoring, but sent his shot from a good position over the crossbar. Mattias Svanberg hit the woodwork with a late free-kick from the edge of the box.
Napoli’s win allows the Partenopei to move four points behind leaders Inter, but Simone Inzaghi’s men have a game in hand.
On the other hand, Juventus are five points off Luciano Spalletti’s side in fifth.
The Partenopei return to action on Sunday, hosting Salernitana at the Stadio Maradona.
Good shift from Lozano, but now I’m afraid he’s gonna get started next match only to do sth stupid.