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March 19, 2013

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Home » Sports » Soccer

Napoli, Milan battle for second

NAPOLI kept its slim Serie A title hopes alive with a 3-2 win over Atalanta on Sunday, while AC Milan maintained its challenge for second by beating struggling Palermo 2-0, with both goals coming from Mario Balotelli.

Goran Pandev scored the winner for Napoli nine minutes from time after it had twice been pegged back by Atalanta.

Edison Cavani scored the other two, breaking a drought of eight games in all competitions - the longest in his time at Napoli.

"It was important to get back to winning ways, as we did not deserve to be in this difficult moment," Cavani said. "Now we must enjoy this victory, which will allow us to work in a more relaxed environment."

Milan bounced back from a 0-4 Champions League loss at Barcelona as Balotelli fired home an early penalty before doubling his tally in the second half with his seventh goal in six games since his arrival from Manchester City.

"We won, which was the important thing," Balotelli said. "It went badly in Barcelona, but we have recovered."

They both still have a long way to go to get anywhere near Francesco Totti's tally after the AS Roma captain scored his 226th league goal in his team's 2-0 win over Parma.

Totti has now surpassed former Swedish great Gunnar Nordahl's tally and is alone in second place on Serie A's all-time scoring list, 48 behind Silvio Piola's record.

Napoli is nine points behind defending champion Juventus, with Milan two points further back, with nine rounds remaining.




 

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