Napoli move into second place with defeat of struggling Genoa

Napoli moved up to second in the Serie A table with a 2-0 home victory over strugglers Genoa.

Maurizio Sarri's side allowed their opponents to dominate possession in the first half before goals from Piotr Zielinski and Emanuele Giaccherini after the break wrapped up the win and moved them six points behind leaders Juventus.

In an uneventful first half which saw both sides create little in the way of chances Dries Mertens came the closest to breaking the deadlock but Napoli's Belgian forward saw his injury time shot saved by Genoa goalkeeper Eugenio Lamanna.

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Five minutes after the break the home side took the lead through Zielinski.

Mertens then drew two saves out of Lamanna in quick succession as the home side tried to press home their advantage.

The midfielder turned provider with just over 20 minutes to go when he set up Giaccherini, who had a simple tap-in to seal the 2-0 win.

Defeat left Genoa 16th in the table but with an 11-point gap from the bottom three.