GENOA: Napoli’s forward Gonzalo Higuain (R) from Argentina scores during the Italian Serie A football match Sampdoria Vs Napoli on January 24, 2016 at ‘Luigi Ferraris Stadium’. — AFP

MILAN: Gonzalo Higuain struck his 21st goal in as many games to help Napoli tighten their grip on Serie A with a 4-2 win at Sampdoria as title challengers Inter Milan were stunned by a late Carpi leveller. As Napoli battled to their 14th win of the campaign, Inter paid the price for a series of first-half misses when Kevin Lasagna levelled at the death for the league minnows to secure a 1-1 draw at a stunned San Siro. Napoli now sit five points ahead of Juventus, who host Roma in Sunday's late game, and have a six-point lead on Fiorentina after their 2-0 win over Torino earlier in the day.

Inter have dropped to fourth at six points adrift, enforcing the pundits' belief that it is now a two-horse race for the title. After what has been a trying week for Napoli, the Azzurri showed their mettle. Coach Maurizio Sarri was caught in the eye of a homophobic storm after calling fellow coach Roberto Mancini a "poof" during a post-match tirade following defeat to Inter Milan in the quarter-final of the Italian Cup. Inter drew a line under the controversy on Friday by publicly accepting Napoli and Sarri's apology.

A trip to Sampdoria looked a challenging prospect for Sarri's title challengers, but after ballooning an early chance over Higuain was soon into his usual, predatory stride. In the ninth minute the Argentinian pounced on a poor Edgar Barreto back-pass to power towards the area and fire past onrushing Emiliano Viviano. Another Barreto blunder helped Napoli double their lead by the 18th minute, the defender hauling down Raul Albiol and the referee pointing to the spot. Despite Higuain's chance to match the 22-goal tally that won the league's Capocannoniere (top scorer) award for Luca Toni and Mauro Icardi last season, Lorenzo Insigne stepped up to beat Viviano at his near post. Napoli were in command but the visitors were pegged back after Carlos Carbonero did well to win back possession and powered down the right flank. Sampdoria striker Eder's dummy was crucial, allowing Joaquin Correa to run in and beat Pepe Reina first-time from 12 yards.

A superb piece of individual skill from Napoli captain Marek Hamsik helped Sarri's men restore their lead, the Slovakian shimmying past three players inside the area to toe-poke the ball past Viviano at his far post on the hour. Sampdoria pulled one back on 73 minutes when Eder rose to meet a corner to fire a glancing header through the legs of Reina, but six minutes later the match was effectively over.

Dries Mertens had replaced Insigne with 15 minutes remaining and only four minutes later the Belgian international took on two Samp defenders before beating Viviano with a low shot at his far post.

Elsewhere, Lazio and Palermo gave their stuttering campaigns a boost by recording impressive 4-1 wins over Chievo and Udinese respectively. Bologna's purple patch under coach Roberto Donadoni continued with a shock 2-0 win away to Sassuolo, who remain seventh but are now only one point ahead of a resurgent Lazio.

Viola up to third

Elsewhere, Slovenian Josip Ilicic curled in his 10th goal of the season and Gonzalo Rodriguez added a late second as Fiorentina got back to winning ways with a 2-0 home win against Torino yesterday. Fiorentina welcomed Giampiero Ventura's men to the Artemio Franchi stadium desperate to get their title chase back on track after consecutive defeats to Lazio and AC Milan.

In spring-like conditions, Ilicic's superb free-kick gave the hosts a 24th minute lead and pulled the Slovenian international level with the club's top scorer, Nikola Kalinic. But Paul Sousa's men were on tenterhooks for the remainder until Rodriguez rose to beat Torino goalkeeper Salvador Ichazo at his near post seven minutes from time with a powerful header from a corner.

New Fiorentina recruits Tino Costa and Mauro Zarate, signed in midweek when striker Giuseppe Rossi moved on loan to Spanish league side Levante, made their debuts in the final stages. Costa replaced Ilicic midway through the second half and Zarate replaced Nikola Kalinic with seven minutes remaining. Fiorentina's 13th win moved them up to provisional third place at three points behind leaders Napoli ahead of the remaining Serie A fixtures, with Inter Milan, who host strugglers Carpi, dropping one place to fourth.

Milan held by Empoli

Mario Balotelli struggled to make an impact in a second-half substitute's appearance as Empoli dug deep to hold AC Milan 2-2 and dent the Rossoneri's European hopes on Saturday. Milan travelled to the Castellani stadium buoyed after a 2-0 defeat of Fiorentina last week that left Sinisa Mihajlovic's men 12 points behind leaders Napoli and within sight of the European qualifying places.

But the visitors had left themselves exposed on the half hour when Empoli forward Piotr Zielinski was unmarked to level Carlos Bacca's eighth-minute opener. And the Milan defence was at fault on the hour when veteran striker Massimo Maccarone pounced at the back post to convert a rebound from teenaged goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to level again after Giacomo Bonaventura had restored their lead on 48 minutes.

Milan's sixth draw of the season left them in sixth place, with Empoli one point and two places further adrift. Bacca spurned an opportunity to create a last-gasp chance, prompting Mihajlovic to speak to the Colombian directly after the final whistle. But the Serbian coach said Bacca alone wasn't to blame.

"We came here to win and I'm disappointed because we took the lead twice and that should have been enough for victory," he told Sky Sport. "We made mistakes but in the end it's a fair result." He added: "Bacca wasn't the only culprit. We had a couple of late chances but we weren't clinical enough." - AFP