Antonio Conte forced to walk onto pitch to separate fighting players in fiery Serie A clash

Antonio Conte was forced to play the unfamiliar role of peacemaker in the late stages of Napoli’s 2-0 win over Lazio on Sunday.

In the 88th minute, Lazio defender Adam Marusic and Napoli‘s Pasquale Mazzocchi came to blows and pulled each other’s shirts near the sideline where Conte stood.

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The 56-year-old did his best to quell the tensions by attempting to hold Mazzocchi back and shepherd him away.

But Conte’s efforts ultimately proved futile as Marusic and Mazzocchi were sent off.

Marusic’s late red card ensured Lazio finished the match with just nine players after forward Tijjani Noslin received a second yellow in the 81st minute.

Conte has been no stranger to drama during matches throughout his coaching career, perhaps none more so than at the end of a Premier League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.

The Italian, who was in charge of Spurs at the time, shook hands with former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel at full time after their respective sides drew 2-2.

But Tuchel refused to let go, prompting a heated argument between the pair which required several members from both clubs to separate them.

The fiery exchange led to both Tuchel and Conte receiving red cards.

However, there was to be no feistiness between Napoli boss Conte and his Lazio counterpart Maurizio Sarri.

The 2-0 scoreline also represented Conte’s first win over Sarri in his managerial career.

Conte had lost his previous two meetings when he was in charge of Inter Milan while Sarri was at Juventus in the 2019/20 Serie A season.

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But Conte finally got one over the man who replaced him in the Chelsea dugout at the third time of asking.

What else happened in the match?

Leonardo Spinnazzola and Amir Rrahmani’s first-half strikes did the business for Conte’s side, although the win came at a cost as winger David Neres was forced off with an injury in the 70th minute.

The Brazilian, who has registered seven goal contributions in his last 11 appearances, went down clutching his ankle after playing a pass.

He was eventually helped off the field by two of Napoli’s medical team and was replaced by Pasquale Mazzocchi.

The loss of Neres compounded Napoli’s injury woes given Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Billy Gilmour and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa are already sidelined.

“For Neres, we’ll have to wait for tomorrow’s tests,” Conte told DAZN after the contest.

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“It’s not a muscular thing. We hope it’s nothing serious, we’ve faced a lot of injuries for a long time.”

Napoli’s win moved them up to second in Serie A on 37 points, one behind league leaders AC Milan.

As for Lazio, the defeat left them languishing in ninth.