Napoli returned to the top of Serie A on Saturday night after a Rasmus Højlund double secured a 2–1 victory over Juventus at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona — handing Luciano Spalletti his first defeat since taking charge of the Bianconeri.

Both Spalletti and Napoli boss Antonio Conte came into the clash facing former title-winning clubs, but it was Conte’s men who made the brighter start. Just six minutes in, Scott McTominay met a David Neres cross with a glancing header that drifted just past the post.

That early warning went unheeded. Moments later, Neres again found space on the right and drilled a low ball across goal, where Højlund was perfectly positioned to turn it in from close range.

Juventus responded by controlling possession for long spells but struggled to turn that into genuine danger. Napoli, having absorbed the pressure for around 20 minutes, carved out another opening when Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s header forced Michele Di Gregorio into an athletic tip over the bar.

Clear-cut chances were scarce, though McTominay again came close in first-half stoppage time, steering another header narrowly wide from a corner.

Early in the second half, Højlund almost struck again, powering into the box and forcing Di Gregorio to palm his effort over the crossbar. McTominay then saw his third effort of the night skid just wide from a low free-kick.

Juventus punished those misses just before the hour. Kenan Yıldız finished off a slick team move, exchanging passes with Weston McKennie before slipping a neat finish beyond Vanja Milinković-Savić from a tight angle.

But the visitors’ joy was short-lived. With 12 minutes remaining, McKennie inadvertently became creator rather than scorer, his looping defensive header from another Neres delivery dropping perfectly for Højlund to nod home his second of the night.

Napoli held firm through late Juventus pressure to extend their unbeaten home league run to a full calendar year.

For Juve, the defeat leaves them with just a single away win this season — and now eight points adrift of the leaders.