Gonzalo Higuain's second-half finish was enough to hand visitors Napoli a slender 1-0 victory over AC Chievo Verona at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi in Serie A this evening.
After a tense opening period it was Napoli who almost found the breakthrough thanks to Jose Callejon, who saw his attempt kept out by a sprawling Albano Bizzarri in the home goal.
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Lucas Castro responded for the home side and he was unlucky as he saw his effort fly just a few inches wide of the target after being picked out by Simone Pepe.
Following the early chances, neither side was able to muster too much in front of goal, leaving away striker Higuain to try his luck from range, before seeing his shot fly over.
The home side produced a promising opportunity just before the break, however, leaving Pepe to fire wide despite some adroit creative work from Giampiero Pinzi inside the Napoli box.
The away side appeared much improved after half time, and they pressed forward with intent with Jorginho and Allan pulling the strings in midfield.
Napoli were able to find a vital goal in the 59th minute thanks to Higuain, who made no mistake with his finish after he was picked out by Faouzi Ghoulam.
Dries Mertens might have wrapped the three points up before the closing stages of the game, only to see his shot fly just wide of the target with Higuain also lurking inside the area.
The miss was to establish a nail-biting final few minutes for the away fans, but they were able to hold on in order to claim all three points on the road.
Christopher Dodd
