Napoli stay top, pressure builds at Valencia
Sunday, January 31, 2016
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Napoli are stubbornly holding on at the top of Serie A after a sixth consecutive win, but the mood is darkening at Valencia after the UEFA Europa League hopefuls lost at home.
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Napoli refuse to budge at the Serie A summit after posting another yet win, on a weekend for the remaining UEFA Europa League contenders that brought a damaging defeat for Valencia.
The pressure is building at the top in Italy after Juventus completed a 12th consecutive victory, but Napoli stubbornly maintained their two-point lead by downing Empoli 5-1, with José Callejón scoring twice. Third-placed Fiorentina dropped points, however, in a goalless stalemate at Genoa.
In Spain, Valencia suffered another setback as they succumbed 1-0 at home to Sporting Gijón, leaving Los Che 12th and coach Gary Neville without a win in eight Liga outings. Fourth-placed Villarreal fared better, beating Granada 1-0, while in Germany Dortmund saw off Ingolstadt thanks to a late Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang double.
SUNDAY
Boavista 0-0 Braga
Genoa 0-0 Fiorentina
Galatasaray 3-1 Gaziantepspor (Turkish Cup)
Udinese 0-0 Lazio
Napoli 5-1 Empoli
Giannina 0-3 Olympiacos
Sevilla 3-1 Levante
St-Étienne 0-2 Paris
Valencia 0-1 Sporting Gijón
SATURDAY
Getafe 0-1 Athletic Club
Augsburg 0-0 Frankfurt
Dortmund 2-0 Ingolstadt
Fenerbahçe 1-0 Kayserispor, aet (Turkish Cup)
Leverkusen 3-0 Hannover
Liverpool 0-0 West Ham (FA Cup)
Estoril 1-3 Porto
Darmstadt 0-2 Schalke
Sporting CP 3-2 Académica
Colchester 1-4 Tottenham (FA Cup)
Villarreal 1-0 Granada
FRIDAY
Sint-Truiden 1-2 Anderlecht
Derby County 1-3 Manchester United (FA Cup)
Marseille 1-1 LOSC
The following sides are on winter breaks or in close season: Basel, Krasnodar, Lokomotiv Moskva, Midtjylland, Molde, Rapid Wien, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sion, Sparta Praha.