Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly bagged a brace as Napoli beat Chievo 3-1 to delay Juventus’ bid to win Serie A and condemn the Verona side to relegation.
Juventus — who lost 2-1 at SPAL on Saturday as they focused on next week’s Champions League game against Ajax — needed just a point to seal an eighth consecutive Serie A title.
They would have if Carlo Ancelotti’s second-placed Napoli failed to beat Chievo, and it would have been a new record of winning with six games to spare.
But towering Senegalese defender Koulibaly scored either side of Arkadiusz Milik’s strike for his first league goals this season to put Napoli 17 points behind Juventus. Massimiliano Allegri’s side will have to wait at least until next weekend at home against Fiorentina to seal the Scudetto with a record-equalling five matches remaining.
“This victory takes a bit of weight off our shoulders,” said Ancelotti, ahead of next week’s Europa League quarter-final, return leg game against Arsenal where they trail 2-0.
Koulibaly headed in the opening goal in the 15th minute with Milik adding a second on 64 minutes.
Koulibaly added a third with nine minutes left for the first double of his professional career, before captain Cesar pulled one back for Chievo just before the final whistle.
