BERGAMO, Italy, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Atalanta's Lazar Samardzic scored a late winner as they fought back to beat third-placed visitors Napoli 2-1 on Sunday, extending their unbeaten Serie A run to nine games.
Napoli's first loss in their last five league games at Atalanta left them 14 points adrift of leaders Inter Milan, while their opponents are seventh and two points behind fourth-placed Roma, who host lowly Cremonese in the late game.
Mario Pasalic almost gave Atalanta the lead after three minutes but his header missed the near post shortly before Napoli goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic cleared Raoul Bellanova's dangerous pass near the goal.
But Napoli struck first when Rasmus Hojlund, on loan from Manchester United, won a free kick just outside the box. Miguel Gutierrez's left-footed free kick curled into the goalmouth for the unmarked Sam Beukema to head home in the 18th minute.
Napoli's Alisson Santos found the net not long after but was offside and Kamaldeen Sulemana's push for a first-half equaliser was thwarted by Milinkovic-Savic, who kept out two shots from the Ghana international with a diving save and a block.
However, the hosts would not be denied and Pasalic headed into the net from Nicola Zalewski's corner, bringing Atalanta level in the 61st minute.
An Atalanta counter-attack almost secured a second goal seven minutes later, with Serbia midfielder Samardzic finding Gianluca Scamacca down the middle for the Italian forward to fire a powerful shot that Milinkovic-Savic saved.
The persistent Samardzic had the final say, though, when he found the far post from Lorenzo Bernasconi's cross in the 81st, extending Atalanta's winning streak to three league games.
"We were down today but we did good things. We said in the first that we had to push and the goal came," Pasalic told DAZN.
Atalanta trail 2-0 to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League playoffs before their home second leg on Wednesday.
Napoli next visit Verona in a Serie A clash on Saturday.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
