Napoli crowned Serie A champions with Udinese draw

Napoli have been crowned champions of Italy for just the third time in their history thanks to a 1-1 draw with Udinese on Thursday night.

The Partenopei's coronation had been delayed due to a dissatisfactory run of results, winning just one of their previous five games before a trip to the Dacia Arena.

A 1-1 draw with Salernitana last weekend coupled with Lazio's win over Inter Milan forced Luciano Spalletti's team to wait that little bit longer, while the Biancocelesti kept their wafer-thin hopes of glory alive by beating Sassuolo on Wednesday.

However, Napoli only needed a draw on Thursday night to clinch the Serie A title, but they got off to the worst possible start, as Tottenham Hotspur loanee Destiny Udogie picked out Sandi Lovric to pick out the top corner with an arrowed finish.

Spalletti's champions-elect could not respond before the break, but just seven minutes into the second half, the ball fell kindly Victor Osimhen to lash home the Scudetto-winning strike.

Two slices of African history were also written for the Capocannoniere-chasing Nigerian, whose 22nd Serie A goal of the campaign saw him break Samuel Eto'o's single-season record in Italy, as well as equalling George Weah's overall record of 46 Serie A goals for an African player.

With a whopping 80 points to boast from their 33 matches, Napoli have won the title with five games to spare, adding to their crowns from the days of Diego Maradona in 1986-87 and 1989-90 campaigns.

The Partenopei will have two days to celebrate and recuperate prior to hosting Fiorentina on Sunday in their first game as champions, and they round off a historic season against Monza, Inter Milan, Bologna and Sampdoria.