Insigne nets 2 as Napoli beats Bologna 3-0 to go top

October 28, 2021 GMT
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Napoli's Lorenzo Insigne celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Bologna at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)
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Napoli's Lorenzo Insigne celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Bologna at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples, Italy, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)

NAPLES, Italy (AP) — Lorenzo Insigne converted two penalties to help Napoli beat Bologna 3-0 Thursday and move back level with AC Milan at the top of the Serie A table.

Fabián Ruiz scored the opener in the 18th minute.

Napoli, which dropped its first points of the season at Roma last weekend, moved above Milan on goal difference after the Rossoneri beat Torino 1-0 on Tuesday. Head-to-head is the first tiebreaker in Italy if teams are level at the end of the season.

Bologna had won only one of its past six matches but that was an impressive 3-0 victory over Lazio and it pushed Milan all the way over the weekend, despite playing with nine men, before two late goals saw it lose 4-2.

Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti was forced to watch from the stands as he was red carded after the final whistle in Rome as the referee judged his applause to be ironic, despite the coach’s fervent protests it was genuine.

Napoli dominated from the start and took the lead after Bologna gave away possession on the edge of its area and the ball came through to Fabián Ruiz, who curled it into the top left corner.

Bologna also gifted Napoli the second, four minutes from halftime, when defender Gary Medel handled the ball and Insigne stepped up to place the resulting penalty in the bottom left corner.

Inisgne deposited his second penalty into the same corner in the 62nd minute after Ibrahima Mbaye was adjudged to have tripped Victor Osimhen.

Napoli midfielder André-Frank Zambo Anguissa also hit the crossbar.

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