Udinese 1-3 Napoli: Lukaku inspires comeback for title-chasing visitors

Title-chasing Napoli came from a goal down to beat Udinese 3-1 on Saturday, moving to within two points of leaders Atalanta at the summit of Serie A.

Lautaro Giannetti’s own-goal was followed up by Frank Anguissa’s calm finish late on to seal a huge win for Antonio Conte’s side, who triumphed at the Stadio Friuli for the first time since September 2021.

Udinese took the lead from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute after Stanislav Lobotka handled Jordan Zemura’s goal-bound effort, with Florian Thauvin seeing his penalty saved by Alex Meret, but following up on the rebound.

Napoli restored parity five minutes after the break when Romelu Lukaku latched on to Scott McTominay’s searching pass before finishing into the bottom right corner.

The visitors then took the lead in the 76th minute when David Neres’ shot on target was turned into his own net by Giannetti to spark wild celebrations from the visiting supporters.

Anguissa then sealed the victory five minutes later, racing in on goal after being played through by Giovanni Simeone before striking beyond Razvan Sava.

Full time: #UdineseNapoli 1-3

#ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/YGtwwPODG2

— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) December 14, 2024

Data Debrief: Oh I do love playing away

After falling to defeat in their last Serie A encounter against Lazio, Napoli got their Scudetto hopes back on track with a performance worthy of champions on the road.

Conte’s side have now won five of their last seven away Serie A matches (D2), including two in a row for the first time since last October. This season, only leaders Atalanta (six) have more away wins than Napoli.

But their latest triumph was inspired by Lukaku, who netted the equaliser in the second half. He has now scored six goals against Udinese in Serie A, only finding the back of the net more often against Genoa (seven) in the competition.

The Belgian is also now one of only five players to have been involved in in at least 10 goals in the Italian top-flight this term (six goals, four assists), joining Mateo Retegui (15), Marcus Thuram (13), Ademola Lookman (12) and Moise Kean (10) on that total.