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Napoli six clear in Serie A after win at fiery Lecce / Photo: © AFP
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Napoli six clear in Serie A after win at fiery Lecce
Napoli moved six points clear at the top of Serie A after Saturday's 1-0 win at Lecce, a match which was briefly stopped by home fans' fiery protest against the league following the death of a beloved club physio.
Antonio Conte's team are one step closer to a second league title in three seasons thanks to Giacomo Raspadori's well-struck free-kick in the 24th minute.
Napoli await the result of reigning champions Inter Milan's home clash with Verona later to see just how far they will be ahead of their closest challengers with three matches remaining in the season.
Inter have made wholesale changes from the team which drew 3-3 at Barcelona midweek, with the second leg of their Champions League semi-final coming up on Tuesday.
And Napoli look good to claim a fourth league crown after a fourth straight win without conceding a goal and ahead of three closing fixtures against also-rans.
Lecce meanwhile stay one place and point above the relegation zone and will drop into the bottom three if Empoli beat Lazio on Sunday.
The match briefly looked like being called off early on when supporters launched a barrage of flares and firecrackers towards the pitch, forcing the match to be stopped for seven minutes.
Fans were protesting Serie A's reaction to their long-time physio Graziano Fiorita dying suddenly last week at the age of 47.
Fiorita's death hit Lecce hard and the club were enraged at the league deciding to only push back last weekend's fixture at Atalanta by one day rather than to a later date to help grieving players and club staff.
Serie A's anthem was booed and whistled by the crowd of 29,000, and after a tense minute's silence for Fiorita fans loudly called the league "sons of bitches".
By the time the game was stopped Lecce had already been given a massive let-off when Romelu Lukaku was ruled to be millimetres offside after turning home Matteo Politano's shot in the second minute.
But Napoli were comfortably the better team in the opening period and were ahead in the 24th minute thanks to Raspadori's free-kick, which fizzed past Lecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone.
Kialonda Gaspar headed off the bar in the 38th minute as Lecce pushed for a leveller, while Raspadori flashed wide shortly before half-time.
And Napoli held out in a scrappy second half to send the away support wild and pile pressure on Inter.
E.Walker--SFF
