Simeone treble buries Napoli as Juventus close on seventh straight title

Napoli's title hopes looked in tatters on Sunday after a shock 3-0 defeat at Fiorentina, complete with an early sending-off for Kalidou Koulibaly and a hat-trick from Giovanni Simeone, edged Juventus closer to a seventh successive Serie A title. With just three games left, Juventus have a four-point lead on closest challengers Napoli and could wrap up yet another 'Scudetto' next weekend. Argentina forward Simeone, the son of Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone, scored all three goals in a spectacular display to keep Fiorentina's Europa League hopes alive.

FT: Fiorentina 3-0 Napoli. Juventus stay four points clear at the top of the Serie A table! ??? pic.twitter.com/ENCSxzs1Zh

— Goal (@goal) April 29, 2018

Koulibaly, labelled a hero when he scored the last-gasp header that kept Napoli's ambitions alive with a 1-0 win over Juventus in Turin last week, turned villain in Florence when he was sent off after just eight minutes. "We lost tactical certainties after the sending off, and faced with adversity we lost our way and our nerve too," said Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri. "The entire team had a bad performance. We won as a team at other times, today we lost as a team. I didn't see any positives." Juventus battled past 10-man Inter Milan in a San Siro thriller on Saturday to prevail 3-2 thanks to two late goals in three minutes.

Hat-trick for Giovanni Simeone ⚽⚽⚽ The Fiorentina striker has delivered a massive blow to the Serie A hopes of Napoli. They will be four points behind Juventus with just three games left... pic.twitter.com/ma9J9lnDba

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 29, 2018

Massimiliano Allegri's champions host Bologna on Saturday and will be assured of the title if they win and Napoli lose at home against Torino on Sunday. "I want the whole team to fight back straight away," said Sarri as Napoli chase a third title after 1987 and 1990. "If we always focus on the next game, we can have a good season." Napoli never recovered from Koulibaly's dismissal, the towering Sengalese defender initially shown a yellow card for kicking out at Simeone as he charged towards goal.

Napoli's Serie A hopes took a massive dent after a big defeat at Fiorentina. More: https://t.co/CSka75kLG2 pic.twitter.com/IvQ0GNNF4E

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) April 29, 2018

But a video assistant referee (VAR) review at the Stadio Franchi upgraded the yellow to red, with a free-kick given instead of a penalty. Sarri replaced midfielder Jorginho with central defender Lorenzo Tonelli. But Napoli struggled to contain their rivals, Simeone breaking the deadlock by firing through the legs of goalkeeper Pepe Reina after 34 minutes. Simeone pounced to drive home the second on 62 minutes after the ball initially bounced off Elseid Hysaj and Reina saved with his leg.

Serie A's incredible title race just got another dose of drama.

Juventus scored twice in the last three minutes at the San Siro to keep their necks ahead at the top.

? https://t.co/sDLWwZNdax pic.twitter.com/dx6FN0rh2Z

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) April 29, 2018

The 22-year-old completed his hat-trick three minutes into injury-time to claim his 13th goal this season. The suspense remains over who will join Juventus and Napoli in the Champions League next season. Both Roman clubs occupy the two remaining places with Roma beating Chievo 4-1 and Lazio edging past Torino 1-0 to remain third and fourth respectively level on points, with Inter Milan four points behind in fifth.

Edin Džeko scored twice as Roma reminded Liverpool of their attacking prowess with four goals against Chievo, including two after being reduced to ten men.

Do they have enough firepower to turn their #UCL semi-final around? pic.twitter.com/4ROxdcqx6K

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 28, 2018

Luis Alberto saw his penalty saved and Serie A top-scorer Ciro Immobile went off injured, with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's header giving Lazio all three points at Torino. The final game of the season will see Lazio host Inter. AC Milan maintained their Europa League hopes with a 2-1 win at Bologna to end a six-game winless streak including last week's shock reverse to bottom club Benevento. First-half goals from Hakan Calhanoglu and Giacomo Bonaventura ensured Milan -- one point behind sixth-placed Atalanta, who beat Genoa 3-1 -- keep touch with the Europa League places.

Forzaaa Milan ❤? Hard earned victory in Bologna! ?? #HC10 #milan #seriea #heretocreate @acmilan pic.twitter.com/P9MQQXLCbY

— Hakan Çalhanoğlu (@hakanc10) April 29, 2018

Sampdoria and Fiorentina are three points behind Milan. In the relegation battle, SPAL moved out of the bottom three with a 3-1 win against Verona, who now look destined for the drop. A late Bacary Sagna goal grabbed a 3-3 draw for Benevento against Udinese, who had looked set to earn a first win under new coach Igor Tudor after a 12-match losing streak cost predecessor Massimo Oddo his job during the week. Chievo, whose coach Rolando Maran was fired on Sunday, drop into the relegation zone with just three games to play. Meanwhile, Marcello Trotta and Nigerian forward Simy scored a brace each as Crotone beat Sassuolo 4-1 to move away from the drop zone.RESULTS:Crotone 4 (Trotta 3, 31, Simy 16, 89) Sassuolo 1 (Berardi 45+2-pen)Verona 1 (Valoti 13) SPAL 3 (Fares 45+4-og, Felipe 71, Kurtic 90+3)Benevento 3 (Viola 23, Coda 76-pen, Sagna 90) Udinese 3 (Widmer 13, Lasagna 78, 79)Bologna 1 (De Maio 74) AC Milan 2 (Calhanoglu 34, Bonaventura 45+1)Atalanta 3 (Barrow 16, Christante 22, Ilicic 74) Genoa 1 (Veloso 81)Sampdoria 4 (Praet 7, Quagliarella 26, Kownacki 45+4, Ramirez 87) Cagliari 1 (Pavoletti 49)Fiorentina 3 (Simeone 34, 62, 90+3) Napoli 0Torino 0 Lazio 1 (Milinkovic-Savic 56)Serie A table after Sunday's late match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Juventus      35 28  4  3 81 22 88 Napoli        35 26  6  3 71 26 84 Roma          35 21  7  7 59 28 70 Lazio         35 21  7  7 84 43 70 ---------------------------------- Inter Milan   35 18 12  5 58 26 66 Atalanta      35 16 10  9 55 36 58 ---------------------------------- AC Milan      35 16  9 10 46 39 57 Sampdoria     35 16  6 13 55 54 54 Fiorentina    35 15  9 11 50 38 54 Torino        35 11 14 10 48 42 47 Genoa         35 11  8 16 30 37 41 Bologna       35 11  6 18 38 46 39 Sassuolo      35  9 10 16 26 57 37 Udinese       35 10  4 21 46 59 34 Crotone       35  9  7 19 36 60 34 Cagliari      35  9  6 20 31 60 33 SPAL          35  6 14 15 33 56 32 ---------------------------------- Chievo        35  7 10 18 31 57 31 Verona        35  7  4 24 28 71 25 Benevento     35  5  3 27 32 81 18 -- relegated Top four qualify for Champions League, fifth and sixth qualify for Europa League Bottom three teams are relegated to Serie B