Mazzarri wins on return as Napoli go third
Walter Mazzarri made a winning return as Napoli coach on Saturday with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Atalanta which pushed the champions up to third in Serie A.
Eljif Elmas netted the decisive goal 11 minutes from the end at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's headed opener for the away side on the stroke of halftime was levelled by a similar strike from Ademola Lookman.
North Macedonia midfielder Elmas rolled home the winner from substitute Victor Osimhen's pass following Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi's poor clearance, making sure that Napoli stayed in Italy's Champions League positions.
Mazzarri's team are still seven points behind leaders Inter Milan who travel to Turin on Sunday for the weekend's big match at second-placed Juventus.
AC Milan will move back above Napoli into third if they beat Fiorentina at the San Siro in Saturday's late fixture.
"Winning at this ground, against this team was not easy, and it won't be easy for anyone else," Mazzarri told DAZN.
"The team dominated all last season, playing some of the best football in Europe with players who were not used to being in that position. So there was always going to be some drop-off after that."
Mazzarri returned to Napoli last week after Rudi Garcia was sacked, reprising a role he left just over a decade ago after being the man to take southern Italy's biggest club back to the upper echelons of Italian football.
The 62-year-old guided Napoli to the 2012 Italian Cup, beating undefeated league champions Juventus in the final to win the club's first major trophy in over two decades, and to second in Serie A one year later before leaving for Inter Milan.
And he took three points from Saturday's even clash, his team recovering from
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