Serie A leader Napoli beats Lecce 1-0, Camarda in tears after penalty miss; Milan held at Atalanta

MILAN (AP) — Despite mounting injury problems, Napoli moved clear at the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win at Lecce on Tuesday.

Kevin De Bruyne was the latest player sidelined and the talismanic midfielder will most likely not return until February after a serious thigh injury in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Inter Milan.

Frank Anguissa scored the only goal of the match at Lecce after Napoli goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had saved a penalty from teenager Francesco Camarda.

Defending champion Napoli moved three points clear of Roma, which hosts Parma on Wednesday. AC Milan moved level on points with Roma after a 1-1 draw at Atalanta. Milan hosts Roma on Sunday.

Lecce was two points above the relegation zone.

Napoli struggled to break Lecce down and the home side had a great opportunity to take the lead when it was awarded a penalty early in the second half following a lengthy video review as Juan Jesus was adjudged to have touched Kialonda Gaspar’s header with his hand.

Milinkovic-Savic is known as somewhat of a penalty specialist and he lived up to his reputation by denying Camarda. The Serbian has saved five of the last nine spotkicks he has faced.

The 17-year-old Camarda, who is on loan from Milan, looked distraught and was seen in tears on the bench after being substituted in the 70th minute.

That was moments after Napoli had taken the lead as Anguissa met David Neres’ pinpoint free kick with a glancing header into the top far corner.

Ademola Lookman scored his first goal of the season as he looks to put his summer transfer saga firmly behind him.

Lookman was left out of the squad at the start of the campaign after trying to force a move away from Atalanta in the transfer window. The Nigeria forward only returned to the starting lineup this month.

He netted a delightful equalizer in the 35th minute, controlling Mario Pasalic’s through-ball as he turned before lashing it into the roof of the net. The whole stadium loudly chanted his name.

Milan had got off to the perfect start with Samuele Ricci’s deflected shot giving the Rossoneri the lead in the fourth minute after Atalanta failed to clear a corner properly.

Atalanta remained the only unbeaten team in Serie A but has drawn seven of its nine league matches.

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AC Milan's Samuele Ricci celebrates after scoring a goal during the Serie A soccer match between Atalanta and AC Milan in Bergamo, Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 28 , 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

AC Milan's head coach Massimiliano Allegri reacts during the Serie A soccer match between Atalanta and AC Milan in Bergamo, Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 28 , 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Atalanta's Ademola Lookman, center, celebrates scoring during the Serie A soccer match between Atalanta and AC Milan in Bergamo, Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Napoli's head coach Antonio Conte gestures during the Serie A soccer match between Lecce and Napoli, in Lecce, Italy, Tuesday Oct. 28, 2025. (Giovanni Evangelista/LaPresse via AP)

Napoli's Frank Anguissa, center, celebrates scoring during the Serie A soccer match between Lecce and Napoli, in Lecce, Italy, Tuesday Oct. 28, 2025. (Giovanni Evangelista/LaPresse via AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.

“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.

It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.

Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.

While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.

NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.

The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)