SERIE A
Hot shot Higuaín closing in on 66-year-old Serie A record
Higuaín took his league goals tally to 29 with a brace in Sunday's 3-1 win over Genoa which put Napoli within 3 points of leaders Juventus.
Record-chasing Gonzalo Higuaín took his Serie A goals tally to 29 in 30 games with a brace in a 3-1 win over Genoa on Sunday that cut Napoli's deficit to leaders Juventus back to three points. Genoa stunned Napoli with a 10th-minute opener courtesy of Tomás Rincón, and Napoli struggled to find the net until Higuaín ran on to Marek Hamsik's delivery down the right side on 51 minutes to beat Mattia Perin.
Napoli lived dangerously just after the hour when second-half substitute Alessio Cerci powered down the middle to fire just wide of Pepe Reina's near upright just as Kalidou Koulibaly slid in to tackle. But Napoli spurned a host of chances, Higuaín twice coming agonisingly close until he put the hosts, chasing their first title since Diego Maradona steered them to a second crown 26 years ago, ahead for the first time in the dying minutes.
Higuaín sent the San Paolo stadium into raptures with his second nine minutes from time, the striker collecting from Hamsik again just inside the area to curl the ball around several players and inside Perin's far post. The Argentine's 29th goal of the campaign now leaves him just six behind Gunnar Nordahl's record for a 20-team, three-points-for-a-win championship of 35, set with AC Milan in 1950.
Napoli should have added more in a lively finale, but Manolo Gabbiadini spurned the chance for a spectacular effort when he toe-poked Hamsik's long ball from midfield just over on the volley. Higuaín made way for Omar El Kaddouri in the closing minutes and the Moroccan striker hit Napoli's third in the first minute of added time.
Napoli remain second behind Juventus after the champions comfortably beat Torino 4-1 away in the Turin derby. At the Stadio Olimpico, Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon became the record holder for the longest unbeaten run in Serie A with a new total of 973 minutes. He overtook Juve legend Dino Zoff (903) last week and surpassed record-holder Sebastiono Rossi's 929 minute tally four minutes into the game.