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Napoli end losing streak; Inter beaten again in Serie A

Associated Press Sunday, 23 October 2016, 18:08 Last update: about 8 years ago

A visit to last-place Crotone was just what Napoli needed to end a three-match losing streak.

Despite losing center forward Manolo Gabbiadini to a red card, ten-man Napoli won 2-1 Sunday to spoil Crotone's first Serie A match in its home stadium.

Jose Callejon scored 17 minutes in and Nikola Maksimovic doubled the lead in the 33rd, shortly after Gabbiadini was sent off.

Aleandro Rosi pulled one back for Crotone in the 89th.

Gabbiadini was on the ground after being fouled by Gian Marco Ferrari and reacted by flicking his boot into the back of Ferrari's leg.

It was Gabbiadini's first red card in 153 career Serie A matches.

Ferrari was shown a yellow.

Both of Napoli's goals were aided by poor defense.

Callejon redirected the ball in by the far post after a cross from Dries Mertens was deflected right toward him. Recently called up to Spain's national team, Callejon has been involved in a league-best eight goals this season with six goals and two assists.

Maksimovic also scored near the far post, following a corner.

Napoli had lost two straight in Serie A and was also beaten by Besiktas in the Champions League this week.

Napoli moved back into third, four points behind Juventus and two behind AC Milan, which beat Juve 1-0 on Saturday.

Promoted to the top division for the first time in its 106-year history, Crotone played its first three home matches 600 kilometers (375 miles) away in Pescara while its Ezio Scida stadium was expanded to meet league regulations.

The Calabrian club remained with one point.

Later, Roma can move back above Milan into second with a win over visiting Palermo and Bologna faces Sassuolo in an Emilia-Romagna derby.

Here's a look at the rest of the action in the Italian league Sunday:

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ATALANTA 2, INTER MILAN 1

The crisis for first-year manager Frank de Boer deepened with Inter's third consecutive league loss.

Mauricio Pinilla scored the winner for Atalanta with a penalty two minutes from time.

After Davide Santon was whistled for a foul on Franck Kessie, Pinilla drilled the spot kick into the top left corner, leaving Samir Handanovic no chance even though the Inter goalkeeper guessed the right direction.

Andrea Masiello had put Atalanta in front with an early header and Eder equalized for Inter with a free kick after the break.

While Inter defeated Juventus in September, it's been a difficult debut campaign in Italy for De Boer, who was hired when Roberto Mancini resigned less than two weeks before the season started.

Inter captain Mauro Icardi failed to put a single shot on target after being punished by the club for his comments about the team's hard-core "ultra" fans in his autobiography.

Atalanta, which extended its unbeaten streak to four matches, moved up to eighth while Inter dropped to 14th.

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TORINO 2, LAZIO 2

Torino and Lazio remained level on points, six points behind Juventus, after a draw that was determined with a penalty kick from Torino's Adem Ljajic in added time.

After Iago Falque put Torino ahead midway through the first half, Ciro Immobile equalized for Lazio against his former club in the 71st with an acrobatic effort.

Substitute Alessandro Murgia scored his first Serie A goal in the 84th for Lazio before Marco Parolo was whistled for a questionable hand ball to set up Ljajic's spot kick.

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ALSO:

Nikola Kalinic scored a hat trick and Federico Bernardeschi added two more goals as Fiorentina won 5-3 at Cagliari.

Empoli and Chievo Verona played to a 0-0 draw in which Chievo protested for a goal even though goal-line technology showed that the ball wasn't fully in.

Also, French forward Cyril scored twice for Udinese in a 3-1 win over visiting Pescara. Udinese has featured only foreign players in its starting lineup in all nine of its matches this season.

It was Udinese's first win since Luigi Delneri replaced Giuseppe Iachini as coach three weeks ago.


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