Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku led Napoli's charge as Antonio Conte's team dispatched relegation-threatened Empoli 3-0 to close in on Inter in the Serie A title race.
2024/2025 Serie A
3-0
Match Report
Inter beat Cagliari 3-1 on Saturday to extend their lead at the top to six points, but Napoli closed that gap back to three with a dominant victory on Monday.
Napoli needed just 18 minutes to open the scoring as Lukaku battled free in midfield and play it to McTominay, whose low long-range shot bounced over Devis Vasquez's outstretched hand and into the corner of the net.
Lukaku turned from provider to scorer in the 56th minute when he latched onto a Mathias Olivera throughball and finished coolly.
And the Belgian combined with McTominay again five minutes later, as the former Manchester United midfielder powered home a header from Lukaku's cross.
12+10 - Romelu #Lukaku is one of the two players in the big-5 European Leagues 2024-25, alongside Mohamed Salah (27G+18A), to have reached the double figures for both goals and assists: 12 goals and 10 assists for the #Napoli striker. Precious.#NapoliEmpoli pic.twitter.com/arnMWYnnXD
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) April 14, 2025
While Napoli push for the title, Empoli are staring down the barrel of relegation. They sit 19th, two points from safety with six games remaining.
Data Debrief: Lukaku still elite
Lukaku's three goal contributions mean he became just the second player across Europe's top five leagues this season to reach double figures for both goals and assists.
He has now netted 12 times and teed up a further 10 goals. Mohamed Salah (27 goals and 18 assists in the Premier League) is the only other player who has reached double figures in both metrics this term.
In fact, no player has managed to provide more than one assist in a single game in a top five European league this season on more occasions than Lukaku (three) - he is equal to Omar Marmoush, Son Heung-min and Salah in that regard.
The 31-year-old, who celebrated his 100th Serie A victory, has now been involved in at least 20 goals in a league campaign for the first time since the 2020-21 season, when he starred for Inter.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
15' Match Event for Napoli vs Empoli
18' GOAL! Napoli 1-0 Empoli (Scott McTominay)
27' Highlight from Napoli vs Empoli
52' Highlight from Napoli vs Empoli
53' Match Event for Napoli vs Empoli
56' GOAL! Napoli 2-0 Empoli (Romelu Lukaku)
59' Match Event for Napoli vs Empoli
61' GOAL! Napoli 3-0 Empoli (Scott McTominay)
67' Highlight from Napoli vs Empoli
76' Match Event for Napoli vs Empoli
80' Match Event for Napoli vs Empoli
87' Highlight from Napoli vs Empoli
Line-ups
Napoli XI: Lukaku, Juan, Lobotka, Politano, Rrahmani, Meret, Pasquale Mazzocchi, M.Olivera, Neres, McTominay, Gilmour
Subs: Spinazzola, Simone Scuffet, G.Simeone, Billing, Okafor, Giacomo Raspadori, Cyril Ngonge, Rafa Marín, Luis Hasa, Claudio Turi
Empoli XI: A.Grassi, Liam Henderson, Emmanuel Gyasi, Pezzella, Devis Vásquez, Liberato Cacace, Esposito, Jacopo Fazzini, Mattia Viti, Saba Goglichidze, Luca Marianucci
Subs: Silvestri, De Sciglio, Viktor Kovalenko, T. Ebuehi, Sambia, Federico Brancolini, Lorenzo Colombo, Jacopo Seghetti, Jacopo Bacci, Ismael Konate, Thomas Campaniello, Lorenzo Tosto