Devastating Juventus deal Serie A title blow to Napoli

Juventus dealt a huge blow to Napoli's Serie A title defence on Sunday with a 3-0 win in Turin which left the reigning champions nine points behind league leaders Inter Milan.

Jonathan David, Kenan Yildiz and Filip Kostic netted in Turin as Juve, revitalised under Luciano Spalletti, moved back into fifth spot with a statement win over their fierce rivals.

Juve are level on 42 points with fourth-placed Roma but will move into the Champions League positions should the capital club lose to AC Milan in the day's late fixture.

"We played really well and had fun... today we were great," Yildiz told DAZN.

"We had fun on the pitch and with our fans today, let's hope we can keep going like this."

Napoli only lead Juve and Roma by a point and are also looking over their shoulders at Como who are a further two points behind in sixth following their six-goal hammering of Torino on Saturday.

Roma will move above Napoli into third as long as they don't lose to second-placed Milan who are trying to cut the six-point gap separating them from local rivals Inter.

Napoli now turn their attentions to Wednesday's visit of Chelsea which will decide whether Antonio Conte's team stay in the Champions League.

Conte has been dealt a difficult hand with injuries, and the only positive news from an awful evening for Napoli was the return of Romelu Lukaku who played his first minutes of the season as a substitute.

"I can't criticise the lads, they gave everything," said Conte to Sky.

"Sometimes you managed to overcome the hurdles, sometimes you don't... We know what the situation is (with injuries), but you can't cry about it, you've got to keep going."

Troubled Napoli

Belgium striker Lukaku was set to be introduced just as Yildiz effectively sealed the points in the 77nd minute, coolly rolling home Juve's second after a Napoli defender sloppily gave the ball to Fabio Miretti.

That was the pivotal moment of the match as Napoli were well in the game, even if they created next to nothing, after David netted the opener midway through the first half.

Kostic stuck the knife in with four minutes remaining, rifling home a powerful low finish which gave the hosts a margin of victory which didn't truly reflect the balance of play.