Rome(Agencies):Three
matches into the restart, Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso can celebrate three
different achievements.
In the Partenopei's latest
performance on Tuesday, reserve forwards Arkadiusz Milik and Hirving Lozano
scored in a 2-0 win at Hellas Verona in Serie A. That followed Napoli's Italian
Cup victory in a penalty shootout victory over Juventus for its first title in
six years.
Before that, Dries Mertens
broke Napoli's all-time scoring record in the southern club's first match back
— a draw with Inter Milan that earned a trip to the cup final.
Milik, the subject of transfer
speculation, scored with a header off a corner at the end of the first half.
Then Lozano, who was kicked out of training last week by Gattuso due to a lack
of effort, sealed the win with a header in the 90th — shortly after coming on.
"I don't like to hold
grudges," Gattuso said of Lozano.
"But I strongly believe
that when you're part of a football club everyone needs to be on the same
wavelength. You always have to train at 100 per cent."
Gattuso has led a quick
turnaround since replacing the fired Carlo Ancelotti in December, when Napoli
was in crisis with players boycotting a training camp ordered by club president
Aurelio De Laurentiis.
"The squad has improved.
The team is in form," Gattuso said.
"It's a team that knows
how to keep the opposition from scoring, that knows how to pass very
well."
Before kickoff, Napoli
sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli confirmed that Milik will be offered to
other clubs if he doesn't agree to a contract extension.
"It's up to him,"
Gattuso added of Milik, who now has 10 goals this season despite alternating
with Mertens at center forward.
"He's one of the
strongest forwards in the world right now."
Napoli moved within three
points of fifth-place Roma, which plays Sampdoria on Wednesday.
Promoted Verona, which had a
second-half equalizer disallowed by the VAR, is eighth.
"I haven't seen many
teams play well against Verona," Gattuso said.
"We played a great match
both with and without the ball."
Hat-tricks
Two seasons removed from Serie
B, Parma is fighting for a spot in Europe.
Andreas Cornelius scored a hat
trick and Dejan Kulusevski added another as Parma won 4-1 at Genoa to move into
seventh place.
Cornelius also scored a hat
trick against Genoa in October.
Cooling breaks were held in
the early games.
All the matches are being
played in empty stadiums.
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