Forward Ademola Lookman scored twice in the first half to inspire Atalanta to an emphatic 3-0 win at Serie A leaders Napoli on Sunday as the visitors moved second in the standings.

Lookman opened the scoring after 10 minutes, volleying home from close range after a headed cross from Charles De Ketelaere.

The Nigerian doubled the lead just after the half-hour mark with a long-range strike from another De Ketelaere pass, before substitute Mateo Retegui added the third in stoppage time to end Napoli’s 100% home league record this season.

Europa League champions Atalanta, provisionally second on 22 points, have cut the gap to their opponents at the top to three points. They are one point above third-placed Inter Milan, with a game in hand, and Juventus in fourth.

Napoli, who clinched a 2-0 win at AC Milan on Tuesday, were unbeaten in their last 10 games across all competitions, winning their previous five Serie A fixtures.

Striker Romelu Lukaku, who opened the scoring at Milan, had another chance for an early goal but Atalanta keeper Marco Carnesecchi saved his effort.

Scott McTominay went close to equalising for the hosts one minute after Lookman put Atalanta in front, but the Scotland midfielder struck the post.

Lookman increased Atalanta’s lead in the 31st minute, receiving a pass from De Ketelaere and firing home from distance.

He is now the Serie A player directly involved in the most goals in 2024 in all competitions with 16 goals and 11 assists.

Atalanta remained dangerous after the break, with Davide Zappacosta shooting just wide and defender Sead Kolasinac having his header from point-blank range disallowed for offside.

Lookman went close to finding the net again 15 minutes from time before Retegui wrapped up the points with a first-time shot from around the penalty spot.

Atalanta host eighth-placed Udinese on Nov. 10 after they travel to VfB Stuttgart in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Napoli next visit champions Inter Milan.

-Reuters

Paul Pogba’s hopes of playing for Juventus again took a hit on Saturday when the club’s director Cristiano Giuntoli said that the Serie A side are complete without him.

The 31-year-old midfielder, who has a contract with Juve until June 2026, will end his doping ban in March after testing positive for DHEA in September 2023, a banned substance that boosts testosterone levels.

The former France international had his ban cut earlier this month from an initial four years to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and will be eligible to play for Juve as soon as the ban ends.

“Our position is clear. Pogba has been a great player, he has been out for a long time and last year we were forced to invest in other players,” Giuntoli told DAZN ahead of the club’s home match against Lazio.

“So now the squad is complete as it is.”

Juventus were not immediately available for comment.

-Reuters

French international footballer Paul Pogba said on Oct 4 that his “nightmare is over” after a four-year ban for doping was reduced to 18 months.

The midfielder, who is under contract with Italian giants Juventus until 2026, will be able to return to competitive football from March 11, four days before his 32nd birthday.

“Finally the nightmare is over. I can look forward to the day I can follow my dreams again,” he said in a statement.

“I always stated I never knowingly breached World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) regulations when I took a nutritional supplement prescribed to me by a doctor, which does not affect or enhance the performance of male athletes.

“I want to place on record my thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) judges who heard my explanation. This has been a hugely distressing period because everything I have worked so hard for has been put on hold.”

Earlier on Oct 4, a spokesperson for CAS confirmed that Pogba’s suspension had been slashed.

“I can confirm the decision – an 18-month suspension with effect from 11 September 2023. The reasons for the decision will follow later,” the spokesperson told AFP.

Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August 2023 after a match between Juventus and Udinese in Italy.

He was provisionally suspended in September, and then banned for four years by the Italian National Anti-Doping Tribunal the following February.

Pogba’s representatives said the testosterone came from a food supplement prescribed by a doctor he consulted in the United States.

After the ban was announced, he posted on his Instagram account that he had “never knowingly or deliberately” taken doping products.

“I am sad, shocked and heartbroken that everything I have built in my professional playing career has been taken away from me,” he wrote at the time.

On Oct 4, after the CAS ruling, his post was wordless, showing only a close-up of two feet wearing Pogba football boots with socks bearing his initials and decorated with the French flag and the two World Cup stars.

A key figure when France won the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Pogba collected four Serie A titles in his first stint at Juventus but had a string of problems, on and off the pitch, after his 2022 return from Manchester United.

During the 2022-23 season, he made just 10 appearances for the club, mainly due to a knee injury that also ruled him out of the World Cup in Qatar, where France lost out to Argentina in the final in December 2022.

He was also the victim of a case of organised extortion, for which six men, including his brother Mathias, were in September ordered to stand trial. AFP

-AFP