NAPLES, Italy — Edinson Cavani scored a hat trick in a 3-1 win over Inter Milan to take his goal tally to 101 in a Napoli shirt and reinforce second place in Italy's Serie A Sunday. Juventus earlier secured its 29th title with a 1-0 win over Palermo which guaranteed the Turin giant a place in next season's Champions League for the second consecutive season. Napoli, meanwhile, appears about to follow in the Bianconeri's footsteps after a 21st win of the season which restored its seven-point lead over AC Milan, which is third place three games remaining. Despite Mario Balotelli scoring a late winner to hand Milan a precious 1-0 win over Torino earlier Sunday, Napoli settled quickly into its game against an Inter side which has been decimated by injury. Cavani started the game with a league-leading 23 goals but had seen Antonio Di Natale of Udinese move on to 20 with a double in a 3-1 win over Sampdoria. But the Uruguayan gave Napoli a dream start with a third-minute lead when he beat Inter ‘keeper Samir Handanovic after a long ball from Goran Pandev caught out the visitors' defense. Inter leveled 20 minutes later when Ricardo Alvarez beat Morgan De Sanctis in the Napoli net after he had been fouled in the area by Juan Zuniga. Cavani was offered the chance to score his 100th goal for Walter Mazzarri's side when Jonathan clumsily fouled Zuniga in the box, and the Uruguayan did not disappoint the full capacity San Paolo stadium when he beat Handanovic in the bottom corner. Inter had failed to beat Napoli away since 1997 and that statistic grew to five defeats and two draws in that period when Cavani sneaked in at the back post to send Pandev's cross high into the net in the dying minutes. PSG title hopes on hold Paris Saint-Germain's celebrations were put on hold as it failed to get the win it needed to all but seal the French title Sunday, scraping a 1-1 home draw against Valenciennes and giving Marseille a glimmer of hope with three matches remaining. A week after PSG had three players sent off in chaotic scenes following the 1-0 win at Evian, the club's image took another hit as sporting director Leonardo deliberately shoulder-barged referee Alexandre Castro in the tunnel after the game. That was after Thiago Silva was sent off late in the first half for putting his hands on the chest of the referee as he contested a decision. “Prepare better ... this is not possible,” an angry Leonardo said as he shouted at Castro, before being dragged away by PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Moments after the final whistle, top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic also launched a verbal tirade at Castro for sending off Silva. “Refereeing in France is very, very harsh. We're the most penalized team,” PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “I don't know if my players are too nervous. Maybe sometimes they are. I think the referees are also tired at the end of the season and can make more mistakes than usual. ... It's often happened (this season) that referees have made mistakes.” A win would have all but guaranteed PSG a first title since 1994, and a third overall, but Valenciennes played attacking football and scored through midfielder Gael Danic in the 17th minute. Center half Alex equalized in the 83rd when he headed in powerfully from a corner. With three matches remaining, PSG is seven points ahead of Marseille but next faces a difficult trip to third-place Lyon, while Marseille hosts Toulouse. “Lyon are playing for the Champions League and we are playing for the title, so it will be a tough match for both sides,” Ancelotti said. Earlier, Lyon strengthened its grip on third place with a convincing 3-0 win at Nancy to stay three points ahead of Nice in the race for a Champions League place. — Agencies
