Advertisement

Napoli beat Pescara 3-1 in Italy's Serie A

With Diego Maradona in Naples to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his side's first title win, Marek Hamsik closed in on the Napoli legend's Italian soccer goalscoring record.

Hamsik netted his eighth goal in all competition this season to help Napoli beat Pescara 3-1 on Sunday and keep up the pressure on the top two.

The Slovakia international needs just nine more to equal Maradona's record of 115 goals for Napoli.

Maradona is still revered in Naples after leading the team to their only two league titles in 1987 and 1990 and that was evident when he was greeted by more than 100 fans upon his arrival in the city on Friday night.

Napoli struggled to get past a well-organised Pescara side in the first half but broke the deadlock immediately after halftime as Lorenzo Tonelli headed in a free kick.

Napoli doubled their lead less than two minutes later as Hamsik volleyed in a brilliant chipped pass from Piotr Zielinski.

Dries Mertens got Napoli's third five minutes from time following a one-two with Allan.

Pescara netted a late consolation as Gianluca Caprari converted a penalty in stoppage time after Elseid Hysaj fouled Alexandru Mitrita.

Napoli moved four points behind Juventus, who visit Fiorentina later, and are three points below Roma.

Meantime, Roma recorded another slender win to move to within a point of Juventus - for a few hours at least.

It was Roma's third 1-0 win in its past four victories.