Napoli are now Serie A champions for the first time since 1990. The party was supposed to start at the weekend, but Napoli were held at home by Salernitana.
Udinese were the next to try and halt Luciano Spalletti’s side and they made it hard, but Victor Osimhen’s goal sealed the title on Thursday.
Napoli needed just a point to secure a third Scudetto, but trailed at the break to Sandi Lovric’s goal – a fine, curling strike which nestled in the top corner after he was allowed space in the visitors’ box.
An Osimhen header which looped narrowly wide was the closest Napoli came to scoring in a disjointed first half.
However they appeared reinvigorated after the break and drew level on 52 minutes when Osimhen slotted home the rebound from a Khvicha Kvaratskhelia shot. There could not have been two more fitting players involved in the decisive goal.
An estimated 11,000 Napoli fans made the trip Dacia Arena and were buoyant for the rest of the match as their team pressed for a winner, which almost came via a Piotr Zielinski volley.
Thousands more watched on big screens at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples – a venue now named after the club’s talisman who helped them win their only previous Serie A titles.
Five more rounds of matches remain in Serie A, but Napoli are up to 80 points and guaranteed to finish the season as champions. Udinese move up to 12th with 43 points.
For months it has felt a question of when, not if, Napoli would end their 33-year Scudetto drought. Well now they have and it is fitting that they won it on the pitch, not while watching television.
Napoli have been head and shoulders above all rivals in Serie A this season, hence being able to secure the title with five games still remaining. They have scored the most goals and conceded the fewest, plus they have the division’s leading scorer and the player with the most assists. Complete domination.
