MILAN (AP) — Antonio Vergara is giving Napoli supporters a hometown hero amid a deepening injury crisis at the Serie A defending champion on Saturday.
Vergara scored a wonder goal in the Champions League midweek and weighed in with a goal and an assist in Serie A to help Napoli beat Fiorentina 2-1.
Napoli’s first win in four matches in all competitions cut the gap to Serie A leader Inter Milan to six points. Inter plays at Cremonese on Sunday.
However, the victory came at a cost as Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was taken to hospital in tears in the first half with a suspected torn ACL in his left knee.
Napoli has struggled with injuries — some long term — all season and the players sidelined include Kevin De Bruyne, Frank Anguissa, David Neres, Billy Gilmour, Matteo Politano and Amir Rrahmani.
“It’s game after game after game having to use players who should be resting,” Napoli coach Antonio Conte said. “I know this type of injury (to Di Lorenzo), it seems like a torn cruciate. It’s a very bad thing, we know how much he means to us.
“Then someone says we complain. Normal injuries are not happening to us but serious ones. And it’s hard to patch things up no matter how much we’re doing it. The team is doing something extraordinary.”
Napoli was looking to rebound from being eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday after a 3-2 loss to Chelsea.
Vergara scored his first goal for Napoli in that defeat and he added to that with his first Serie A goal on Saturday, in the 11th minute. Rasmus Højlund was blocked from collecting a long ball by Fiorentina defenders but that allowed Vergara to latch onto it and sprint clear before drilling into the bottom right corner.
The locally born midfielder leapt over the advertising hoardings and onto the track to celebrate with the fans.
Fiorentina came close to equalizing moments after the host should have doubled its lead but Roberto Piccoli headed a free kick off the post and, as the action continued, Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret pulled off an incredible save to parry Albert Guðmundsson’s header at point-blank range.
Napoli doubled its lead at the start of the second half when Vergara picked out Miguel Gutiérrez on the right and he cut inside past Fiorentina defender Robin Gosens before curling into the far bottom corner.
Manor Solomon reduced the deficit in the 57th minute, tapping in the rebound after Meret parried Piccoli’s attempt.
Fiorentina remained 18th in Serie A, one point from safety.
Berardi’s back
Domenico Berardi had a great return to the starting lineup by scoring and forcing an own goal as Sassuolo won at Pisa 3-1. Berardi’s first start since November followed a hamstring strain.
Sassulo climbed up to 11th while Pisa remained four points from safety. It did, however, climb off bottom spot and above Hellas Verona on goal difference after Verona lost at mid-table Cagliari 4-0.
Head-to-head record is the first tiebreaker at the end of the season.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
By DANIELLA MATAR
AP Sports Writer
