Newly-crowned champions Napoli secured a 1-0 win over Fiorentina in Serie A on Sunday when the league’s top scorer Victor Osimhen scored from the spot at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Osimhen could have put a relaxed Napoli in front from a penalty three minutes into the second half but Fiorentina keeper Pietro Terracciano saved his weak shot.
– Marcotti: What Napoli’s Serie A win means to team, fans
The Nigeria striker got a chance to redeem himself when winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia won another penalty for Napoli in the 74th minute and Osimhen put the ball past Terracciano with a much stronger shot.
Fiorentina, who host FC Basel in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semifinal on Thursday, remain eighth on 46 points, 12 points behind AS Roma in seventh and Atalanta in sixth with four games left in the season.
Napoli wrapped up their first league title in 33 years on Thursday when a 1-1 draw at Udinese put them out of reach of their rivals for the Scudetto.
“The best quality is to give others happiness,” Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti told DAZN. “When you see such love, affection and happiness, it is satisfying to know you have contributed a little bit to this atmosphere here.
“We played a good game again today against a tough opponent who knows how to feel good on the pitch. In the first half we couldn’t turn the ball over, in the second half we did very well.”
Naples fans joyfully chanted “It’s us, it’s us, we are the champions of Italy” as the southern team celebrated winning the league title and Fiorentina players gave the Napoli team a guard of honor when it walked out ahead of kickoff.
The prematch choreography at one end of the stadium depicted a giant Italy flag and the number three to signify Napoli’s third Italian championship — and the first since Diego Maradona led the team to two titles in 1987 and 1990.
More celebrations — directed by Italian film director Paolo Sorrentino — played out after the final whistle.
Fans were singing and chanting in and around the stadium hours before kickoff, while the team bus was accompanied from the hotel by flag-waving supporters on scooters as it went through streets lined by more cheering fans.
The noise inside the stadium was ramped up still further when Napoli came out for the warmup. Napoli midfielder Matteo Politano had dyed his hair in the club’s blue colors, while teammates Elif Elmas and Giovanni Simeone had blue streaks in their hair.
Simeone’s father — Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone — was among those present.
