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Napoli claims top spot in Serie A with win over Inter Milan

Reuters

Gonzalo Higuain scored his league-leading 11th and 12th goals of the season Monday to seal a 2-1 win over 10-man Inter Milan, taking his Napoli squad to the summit of Serie A.

It's the first time Napoli has claimed sole ownership of the top spot in 25 years, dating back to the days of Maradona.

Higuain's first strike came just 64 seconds after the kickoff. Jose Callejon jumped on a loose ball before slipping it to Higuain, who turned quickly and lashed a shot past goalkeeper Samir Handanovic.

Related: VIDEO - Higuain needs just 2 minutes to break Inter Milan's defence

Higuain doubled the advantage in the 62nd minute as he beat Inter defenders Jeison Murillo and Miranda on the run and chipped the ball over Handanovic.

Adem Ljajic cut the deficit in half five minutes later with a sensible strike of his own, beating Napoli 'keeper Pepe Reina on his near post.

But Inter couldn't find the equaliser, despite hitting the post twice in a frenetic few final moments, and allowed Napoli to leapfrog into first place.

Related: VIDEO - Inter hits post twice in final seconds vs. Napoli

"It was a magical evening," Higuain said. "I think we deserve first place. Although there's still a long way to go in the season and it's going to be a struggle. I don't know any squad that hasn't won something without a struggle."

Both sides brought impressive defensive records into the match, only to see them undone. Inter hadn't conceded in four Serie A matches prior to this one, and Napoli had kept clean sheets in its past seven.

Higuain made the Nerazzurri look silly at the back as he scored for the eighth straight game in front of his home fans.

A second yellow card and a subsequent red card to Yuto Nagatomo at the stroke of halftime seemed to negate any hopes of an Inter comeback.

Ljajic's goal broke Reina's shutout streak - he had gone 744 minutes in all competitions without conceding a goal - but it wasn't enough to thwart what has to be the best side in Italy so far this season.

Napoli stands atop the league with 31 points, while Inter now trails in second with 30.

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