Hart no match for four-star Mertens
AFP
AFP, MILAN: Dries Mertens put four goals past Englands Joe Hart as rampant Napoli completed a memorable 5-3 win over Torino to move up to third place in Serie A Sunday.
Mertens has been pushed into the main strikers role by coach Maurizio Sarri to fill in for missing centre-forward Arkadiusz Milik, who is scheduled to return from a knee ligament injury in January.
The diminutive Belgium forward has seized the day in astonishing fashion for the southerners, who continue to thrive following the departure of 36-goal hero Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus last summer.
Mertens hit three goals in a 5-0 rout of Cagliari last week to add to a goal he scored against Benfica in a 2-1 Champions League win a fortnight ago.
At the San Paolo on Sunday, the 29-year-old completed his hat-trick, including one from the spot, by the 22nd minute as Napoli laid the foundations for a win that moved them up to third, eight points behind leaders Juventus, at the expense of stuttering AC Milan.
Fresh from a 3-1 defeat to city rivals Juventus last week, Torino coach Sinisa Mihajlovic was so impressed with Napoli he said: Without Higuain and then without Milik, hes found other solutions.
For Napolis film-producer owner Aurelio De Laurentiis, it was the chance to take another shot at Higuain whom he accused of betrayal last summer despite pocketing 90m euros from Juve for his sale.
Torino left everything on the pitch in a bid to beat Juventus last week, but facing Napoli was like walking into a tidal wave.
Hart was unlucky not to make contact when Mertens struck a first-time shot from just outside the box on 13 minutes following a well-worked corner.
But the Belgians shot was virtually unstoppable and five minutes later Mertens had his second, sending Hart the wrong way from the spot after being hauled down from behind.
