Napoli beat Lazio as Gonzalo Higuain continues scoring prowess

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Gonzalo Higuain's 23rd goal of the season propelled Serie A leaders Napoli down a path to securing a 2-0 victory at Lazio.

The in-form Argentine striker made it seven goals from his last five league outings in the first half of Wednesday night's game at the Stadio Olimpico, with Jose Callejon doubling the visitors' lead only a few minutes later.

While Napoli celebrated preserving their two-point advantage over Juventus, mid-table Lazio offered little by way of response and watched their seven-match unbeaten run come to an end.

With Juve -- the reigning champions beating Genoa 1-0 to register a 13th straight win -- hot on their heels, Napoli know the best policy is to keep on scoring and they wasted no time attacking the Lazio goal.

Higuain almost notched inside seven minutes but Federico Marchetti got the better of him in a one-on-one. Lazio responded by counter-attacking swiftly and Antonio Candreva was unlucky to watch two good crosses cleared by the home defence.

Napoli would not be on the back foot for long and opened the scoring through a familiar source on 24 minutes. Higuain combined well with Callejon before tucking the Spaniard's pass underneath Marchetti.

Three minutes later, provider turned goalscorer as Callejon raced on to a high ball forward before deftly lobbing the Lazio keeper.

With a demanding fixture list at the forefront of his mind, Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri withdrew Higuain midway through the second half and the Azzurri were happy enough to keep Lazio at arm's length.