Juventus beat 10-man Napoli 2-0 in Serie A

By Halis Sunnetci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Juventus secured a 2-0 home victory over a 10-man Napoli on Sunday in Week 10 of the Italian Serie A, with Kerim Alajbegovic and Jeremie Boga scoring second-half goals.

The hosts broke the deadlock through Alajbegovic's powerful long-range strike before Napoli defender Luca Marianucci was sent off, with Boga sealing the victory late in the match.

Napoli threatened early in the eighth minute when Lorenzo Lucca met Matteo Politano's cross with a header, but Juventus goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario produced a fine save.

Juventus came close to opening the scoring in the 28th minute when Juan Cabal's header from a corner struck the woodwork.

Napoli missed a promising opportunity two minutes later when Noa Lang fired over the crossbar from the center of the penalty area after combination play between Politano and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa.

Juventus nearly took the lead in first-half stoppage time, but Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret denied 19-year-old Alajbegovic's low shot with a sharp save.

The teams entered halftime with the score level at 0-0.

Juventus finally broke the deadlock in the 70th minute when substitute Edon Zhegrova found Alajbegovic outside the penalty area, and the Bosnian midfielder unleashed a powerful strike that clipped the post before finding the net.

Alajbegovic was replaced by Boga just two minutes later.

Napoli's hopes of a comeback suffered another blow in the 75th minute when Marianucci received a second yellow card for fouling Teun Koopmeiners, leaving the visitors with 10 players.

Juventus doubled their lead in the 87th minute when Andrea Cambiaso combined with Boga on the left, and the substitute curled a long-range effort into the bottom corner beyond Meret.

The victory lifted Juventus to 17 points and seventh place in the Serie A standings, while Napoli remained eighth with 14 points.

Halis Sünnetci