Italian Serie A
NapoliNapoli5TorinoTorino3

Napoli 5-3 Torino

Dries Mertens
Dries Mertens beat Joe Hart three times in nine first-half minutes

Dries Mertens scored four goals - and became the first player since 1974 to score consecutive Serie A hat-tricks - as Napoli beat Torino 5-3.

The Belgium international beat England goalkeeper Joe Hart three times in nine first-half minutes, seven days after a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Cagliari.

Mertens drilled his first from a Jose Callejon cut-back and added a penalty before scoring a third from close in.

His best goal, though, was his fourth, a perfectly weighted chip over Hart.

Torino, 3-0 down after 22 minutes, did fight back in the second half, with Andrea Belotti pulling one back before former Tottenham centre-back Vlad Chiriches added Napoli's fourth.

Luca Rossettini and Iago Falque, with a penalty, then scored either side of Mertens' classy effort, but Napoli ensured victory to move up to third.

The last player to score hat-tricks in consecutive Serie A matches was Juventus forward Pietro Anastasi in May 1974.

Hart burn
Only once in his career has Joe Hart conceded as many goals in one match - he was in the Manchester City side beaten 6-0 at Chelsea in the Premier League in October 2007.

Lazio climbed to fourth with a 3-1 victory over Fiorentina, but had to negotiate a nervy second half after appearing to take command with Keita Balde Diao's angled finish and a Lucas Biglia penalty.

Soon after the break, the home side needed keeper Federico Marchetti to save a Josip Illcic penalty to maintain their 2-0 lead, and Mauro Zarate then scored for Fiorentina - against his former club - to set up a tense finale. But Stefan Radu scored a third for the home side late on to end any doubts about the result.

Aleksandar Trajkovski's winner secured Palermo's first Serie A points since 2 October
Aleksandar Trajkovski's winner secured Palermo's first Serie A points since 2 October

Palermo, next to bottom, achieved the most extraordinary comeback of the day - and ended a nine-match losing streak as they came from 3-1 down to win 4-3 at Genoa.

Giovanni Simeone, the son of Atletico Madrid manager Diego, scored two and set up a third for Nikola Ninkovic to put Genoa on course for victory with 25 minutes to go.

But the visitors, for whom Robin Quaison had scored in the first half, made it 3-2 through Edoardo Goldaniga, before striking twice in the final three minutes - thanks to Andrea Rispoli's tap-in and Aleksandar Trajkovski angled drive.

There was still time for Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin to be sent off, as he pushed over Ilija Nestorovski when the Palermo striker prevented him from taking a free-kick quickly.

In Sunday's early Serie A match, Antonio Candreva's first-half goal gave Inter Milan a third successive league win, 1-0 at Sassuolo. Stefano Pioli's side finished with 10 men after Felipe Melo was sent off in stoppage time for two bookable offences.

Bottom club Pescara remain without a league victory after losing 3-0 at home to Bologna, while Crotone stay in the relegation zone after a 2-0 defeat at Udinese. Elsewhere, Chievo beat Sampdoria 2-1.

Line-ups

Napoli

Formation 4-3-3

  • 25Reina
  • 2Hysaj
  • 33Albiol
  • 21Chiriches
  • 31Ghoulam
  • 20ZielinskiSubstituted forAllanat 73'minutes
  • 8JorginhoSubstituted forDiawaraat 69'minutes
  • 17Hamsik
  • 7Callejón
  • 14Mertens
  • 24InsigneSubstituted forGiaccheriniat 81'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Barbosa
  • 3Strinic
  • 4Giaccherini
  • 5Allan
  • 11Maggio
  • 19Maksimovic
  • 22Sepe
  • 23Gabbiadini
  • 30Rog
  • 42Diawara
  • 62Tonelli
  • 77El Kaddouri

Torino

Formation 4-3-3

  • 21Hart
  • 29De SilvestriSubstituted forFalqueat 56'minutes
  • 13RossettiniBooked at 34mins
  • 24MorettiBooked at 60mins
  • 23Barreca
  • 15Benassi
  • 18ValdifioriSubstituted forLukicat 45'minutesBooked at 72mins
  • 8BaselliSubstituted forLópezat 67'minutes
  • 7Zappacosta
  • 9Belotti
  • 10Ljajic

Substitutes

  • 1Padelli
  • 4Castan da Silva
  • 6Acquah
  • 11López
  • 14Falque
  • 17Martínez
  • 20Vives
  • 22Obi
  • 25Lukic
  • 31Boyé
  • 90Cucchietti
  • 93Ajeti
Referee:
Daniele Doveri
Attendance:
29,221

Match Stats

Home TeamNapoliAway TeamTorino
Possession
Home66%
Away34%
Shots
Home21
Away11
Shots on Target
Home10
Away5
Corners
Home4
Away3
Fouls
Home6
Away14

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Napoli 5, Torino 3.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Napoli 5, Torino 3.

  3. Post update

    Hand ball by Adem Ljajic (Torino).

  4. Post update

    Attempt missed. Dries Mertens (Napoli) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Allan.

  5. Post update

    Offside, Torino. Joe Hart tries a through ball, but Maxi López is caught offside.

  6. Post update

    Foul by Elseid Hysaj (Napoli).

  7. Post update

    Antonio Barreca (Torino) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  8. Post update

    Attempt missed. Emanuele Giaccherini (Napoli) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Dries Mertens.

  9. Post update

    José Callejón (Napoli) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  10. Post update

    Foul by Sasa Lukic (Torino).

  11. Post update

    Offside, Torino. Luca Rossettini tries a through ball, but Maxi López is caught offside.

  12. Post update

    Attempt missed. Adem Ljajic (Torino) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.

  13. Goal!

    Goal! Napoli 5, Torino 3. Iago Falque (Torino) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the top left corner.

  14. Post update

    Penalty conceded by Raúl Albiol (Napoli) after a foul in the penalty area.

  15. Post update

    Penalty Torino. Luca Rossettini draws a foul in the penalty area.

  16. Post update

    Corner, Torino. Conceded by Vlad Chiriches.

  17. Post update

    Offside, Torino. Adem Ljajic tries a through ball, but Iago Falque is caught offside.

  18. Substitution

    Substitution, Napoli. Emanuele Giaccherini replaces Lorenzo Insigne.

  19. Goal!

    Goal! Napoli 5, Torino 2. Dries Mertens (Napoli) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by José Callejón.

  20. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Marek Hamsik (Napoli) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Dries Mertens.

Scores, Results & Fixtures

Sunday 18th December 2016

  • NapoliNapoli5TorinoTorino3
  • SassuoloSassuolo0Inter MilanInter Milan1
  • ChievoChievo2SampdoriaSampdoria1
  • PescaraPescara0BolognaBologna3
  • UdineseUdinese2CrotoneCrotone0
  • GenoaGenoa3PalermoPalermo4
  • LazioLazio3FiorentinaFiorentina1

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Juventus17140336142242
2Roma17112436171935
3Napoli17104337181934
4Lazio17104332181434
5AC Milan1710342720733
6Atalanta179262520529
7Inter Milan178362521427
8Fiorentina177552521426
9Torino177463527825
10Chievo177461817125
11Udinese177372424024
12Genoa176562121023
13Sampdoria176472124-322
14Bologna175571722-520
15Cagliari176292339-1620
16Sassuolo1752102129-817
17Empoli17359924-1514
18Crotone1723121432-189
19Palermo1723121534-199
20Pescara1715111332-198
View full Italian Serie A table