Lozano brace ignites Napoli’s title charge

After scoring just two goals in his previous 21 league appearances, Hirving Lozano became Napoli’s unlikely hero as he grabbed his third Serie A (SA) career brace, helping his side to a 2-0 victory at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara.After suffering a dramatic exit from the Coppa Italia last time out, Napoli were looking to bounce back in Bologna. Lozano and Fabián Ruiz both saw red in the cup defeat, but they nearly made amends in the opening exchanges when the latter found the former with a sublime through ball, but the Mexico international was denied by a sprawling Łukasz Skorupski. Lozano, though, didn’t have to wait too long for his goal, as in the 20th minute, he guided home Elif Elmas’ precise low cross to give Napoli the lead.‘I Rossoblù’ have faltered in recent weeks, losing four of their last five league games, and it took 39 minutes for the hosts to fashion an opening in this encounter, with Marko Arnautović thwarted by the legs of Alex Meret. Despite Napoli’s dominance, their lead remained slender at the break, although Ruiz was inches from doubling their advantage when his fierce effort rattled the post moments before HT.The interval did nothing to interrupt the visitors’ dominance as Lozano grabbed his second goal just minutes into the second half. A free-flowing counter-attack culminated in Ruiz finding the winger in the box, and the 26-year-old showed great composure to register his fourth league goal of the season.Despite failing to score in just two of their ten home league games this season, Bologna found it tough to muster a response against a Napoli side that possess the best defence in SA. There were momentary glimpses of hope, with Aaron Hickey stinging the palms of Meret, while Mattias Svanberg struck the upright in stoppage time, but they were ultimately lacking in front of goal. ‘I Partenopei’ resisted the hosts’ late attacks to claim their 12th league clean sheet this term, and the victory leaves Luciano Spalletti’s side just four points adrift of league leaders Inter Milan.