Having clinched their third Scudetto with a 1-1 draw at Udinese on Thursday, runaway champions Napoli were serenaded as they ran out onto the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona pitch as kings of Serie A for the first time since 1990.
The eponymous Argentinian was the chief architect of that success, and while the younger generation might clamour for it to be renamed the ‘Stadio Victor Osimhen’, the Partenopei’s masked marksman was initially quieter than expected.
Instead, a Fiorentina side with one eye on UEFA Europa Conference League glory stifled the new kings of Italy, working hard to capitalise on Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti’s decision to rotate the usual XI.
A man also aiming to become the second-ever golden boot winner in Europe’s newest club competition, Luka Jovic was particularly lively, and his glancing header was kept out well by Pierluigi Gollini.
Undeterred, the visitors only kept up their pressure on a relaxed Partenopei, with Jovic again being denied by Gollini, while Alfred Duncan was a dominant presence in the midfield for the Viola.
Despite their best efforts, Fiorentina were unable to force a breakthrough before the interval, taking the gloss of a third straight half-time clean sheet in Serie A against the Azzurri.
In response, Luciano Spalletti made a double switch at the break, following up on the deployment of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in first-half injury time, and Napoli once more looked like a side worthy of such a vast title-winning margin.
Immediately after the break, Stanislav Lobotka was felled by Sofyan Amrabat, but Victor Osimhen couldn’t make history on that occasion, as Pietro Terracciano dived to his left to keep out the resulting spot-kick.
Nevertheless, the Nigerian was granted another chance to go above George Weah on 47 Serie A goals, and this time he took full advantage of Kvaratskhelia drawing a foul off Nicolas Gonzalez, smashing home a resounding strike that finally sealed his immortality.
As the sky-blue clad crowds built up outside the stadium to greet their triumphant heroes, there were a couple of late scares inside the ground, but Fiorentina failed to find an equaliser, and ensured that the festivities will continue at full throttle in Campania.
With a top-seven finish now all-but impossible for his side, Vincenzo Italiano will switch focus to European and Coppa Italia action, with only West Ham currently seen as likelier candidates to win this season’s Europa Conference League, ahead of Fiorentina’s first continental semi-final for eight years.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli)
