Dries Mertens matched Diego Maradona with his 81st Serie A goal for Napoli and Carlo Ancelotti's squad bounced back from a run of poor results for a 2-0 win at relegation-threatened Frosinone on Sunday.
Mertens scored the opener with a perfectly executed free kick around Frosinone's wall into the near top corner.
Mertens and Maradona are tied for third on the club list of Serie A scorers behind 1930s star Antonio Vojak (102 goals) and recently departed captain Marek Hamsik (100).
"The great thing about Mertens is that he always gives his all, even if he plays poorly," Ancelotti said. "I really like his attitude. ... He deserves to match Maradona."
Amin Younes doubled the lead after the break, dribbling by two defenders before sending an angled shot into the far corner.
Napoli also hit the woodwork twice in only its second league win of its last five matches. The southern club was also recently eliminated from the Europa League quarterfinals by Arsenal.
Napoli is firmly second, 18 points behind Italian champion Juventus and eight ahead of third--place Inter Milan with four rounds remaining.
Frosinone is in penultimate position.
OTHER RESULTS
Spal and Genoa each moved toward safety with a 1-1 draw. Gianluca Lapadula's acrobatic volley for Genoa canceled out Felipe's opener.
Also, already relegated Chievo Verona earned points for the second straight week, coming back to draw 1-1 with Parma. Riccardo Meggiorini equalized with a header after Juraj Kucka also scored with a header.
