Mertens overtakes Maradona's Napoli goal record

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Dries Mertens on Sunday overtook club legend Diego Maradona in Napoli's all-time Serie A scorers list after bagging his 82nd goal in a 2-1 win over Cagliari which sealed their second place of this season.

The Belgian striker headed an equalizer after 85 minutes before Lorenzo Insigne's 98th-minute penalty to surpass former Argentinian ace Maradona, who hit 81 league goals between 1984 and 1991.

Mertens is now the third best Serie A scorer in the club's history, behind Antonio Vojak, who hit a record 102 league goals between 1929 and 1935 and Slovakian Marek Hamsik, who achieved 100 before leaving to play in China side's Dalian Yifang this season.

Hamsik has scored the most goals in all competitions for Napoli with 121, followed by Maradona on 115 with Mertens now joint third on 107 with Attila Sallustro.

Dries Mertens (R) of SSC Napoli in action during the Serie A match against Cagliari Calcio at Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy, May 5, 2019. /VCG Photo

"I'm very happy to have overtaken Maradona and to be a part of Napoli's history," said Mertens, 31, who arrived in southern Italy in 2013 from PSV Eindhoven.

"The future? If I want to score goals in Italy I have to stay. I have always said that I feel good here, I have a contract for next year and I am very happy to stay here."

Nicolo Zaniolo (L) of AS Roma and Cristian Kouame (C) of Genoa vie for the ball during their Serie A match at the Luigi Ferraris stadium, Genoa, Italy, May 5, 2019. /VCG Photo

For other games happened on Sunday, there were three draws: Genoa 1-1 Roma, Sassuolo 2-2 Frosinone, Parma Calcio 3-3 Sampdoria.

The relegated zone's Empoli scores the only goal in the victory over Fiorentina, while the eighth-place Lazio lost to the Champions League zone's Atalanta 3-1.

Source(s): AFP