Napoli extend Serie A lead to 19 points after big win over Torino

Napoli enter the international break with a 19-point lead at the top of Serie A, beating Torino 4-0 on the road on Sunday with another brace from Victor Osimhen.

Napoli's Kim Min-jae, right, carries Victor Osimhen as they celebrate with Giovanni Di Lorenzo at the end of a Serie A match against Torino in Turin on Sunday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Napoli enter the international break with a 19-point lead at the top of Serie A, beating Torino 4-0 on the road on Sunday with another brace from Victor Osimhen.

The Partenopei got off the mark quickly at Olimpico di Torino in Turin, Italy on Sunday, with Osimhen providing the opener just nine minutes into the match.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia provided goal No. 2 in the 35th minute, firing a penalty straight down the middle to put the visitors up 2-0.

Osimhen struck just as quickly in the second half, scoring in the 51st minute, with Tanguy Ndombele making it four 15 minutes later.

Kim Min-jae played the full 90 minutes in the Serie A game, apparently unaffected by concerns of a calf injury a week earlier.

With Saturday’s win, Napoli are now 19 points clear on top of the table. They only suffered two losses in the league all season — 1-0 to third-place Inter Milan in January and 1-0 to second-place Lazio two weeks ago.

“We are hungry and once again today when I went to speak to the players before the game, I got the real feeling of how much they care, that they are made of something different to those who could be sated by success,” Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti said after the game.

“They want to be something, to be someone. There is a Neapolitan saying: ‘Those who are hungry don’t feel sleepy.’ That sums up our team.”

Napoli are also still alive in the Champions League, beating Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 on aggregate in the round of 16 to earn a spot in the quarterfinals for the first time in the club’s history.

Napoli will face league rivals AC Milan in the quarterfinals beginning on April 13. The two sides have met once so far this season, with Napoli winning 2-1 in September, although they will face off again in a Serie A game on April 2, the first game back after the international break.

Sunday’s match was the last game before the international break, with Kim Min-jae set to fly back to Korea this week to rejoin the Korean national team.

Kim, who has been at the center of the Korean defense for years, is expected to again lead the back line under new manager Jurgen Klinsmann. He is likely to play the majority of both games when Korea face Colombia on Friday and Uruguay on March 28.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]