Napoli’s Serie A title defense suffered another setback as they lost 3-0 in Torino on Sunday, with goals from Antonio Sanabria, Nikola Vlasic and Alessandro Buongiorno moving the hosts into the top 10.
With just one win in their last six league games, Napoli have fallen to ninth in the standings with 28 points, 20 behind leaders Inter Milan and just one point ahead of Torino at the halfway point of the season.
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The hosts took advantage once Napoli were reduced to 10 men when second-half substitute Pasquale Mazzocchi, recently signed from Salernitana, was sent off for a high-boot tackle on Valentino Lazaro just five minutes after his debut.
“It’s not the most beautiful victory,” Torino coach Ivan Juric told DAZN.
“With the expulsion today everything has become a little easier, but I have experienced many nice games in charge of El Toro.
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“Even in Florence [in a 1-0 loss to Florentina] we dominate without being able to win it; “Today everything went well… we played a good game, we have to continue working like this and the boys have to continue believing in their means.”
Torino’s methodical offense finally broke through just before half-time when Ivan Ilic’s free kick was deflected by Duván Zapata and fell to Sanabria to finish quickly.
“Perfect week with renewal and goals. I am very happy to have continued in this club,” said Sanabria, who on Thursday signed a contract extension for two more years.
“I felt very good here from the first day, people immediately transmitted their love to me.”
The hosts doubled their lead early in the second half when Vlasic received the ball from Zapata and dribbled into an opening before finding the corner of the net.
Torino sealed their first victory over Napoli since 2015 when Buongiorno headed in a Lázaro corner, making it 3-0 just after the hour.
Napoli will look to turn things around when they host bottom-placed Salernitana on Saturday, while Torino will hope to continue their momentum in Genoa.
The reigning champions have already lost seven matches in Serie A this season, having lost just four times during their entire triumphant 2022-23 campaign.
