Napoli has scored a crucial away 1-0 victory over Brescia in Italy's Serie B football competition to move 10 points clear of fourth-placed Mantova.

Inacio Pia scored for the Partenopei in the 39th minute to secure the valuable 3 points which sees Napoli move to 71 points and open up a 10 points gap over fourth placed Mantova, the minimum advantage needed for a third placed team to avoid play-offs and advance straight into Serie A.

Brescia stay on 55 points in eighth position and now face a struggle to make the top 6 for the playoffs should Napoli or Genoa (73 points) slip under the 10 point barrier.

Mantova hold fourth spot on 61 points, with Rimini and Piacenza on 60 points, followed by Bologna on 58 points with Brescia just behind.

With four rounds left Mantova have some work to do to force the playoffs and will host Verona this week while Napoli will host Modena and Genoa play away to Bari.

Perhaps the last round of the Serie B season will prove crucial when Napoli travel to Genoa.

Sofia Loren to strip if Napoli are promoted

In other news...a striptease by 72-year-old actress Sofia Loren could be one of the more outrageous ways that Napoli fans will celebrate if the team are promoted to the Italian top flight this season.

Loren, a movie sex siren from the 1950s and 1960s, is a big fan of the Naples club who have fallen on hard times since winning their first Italian championship 20 years ago.

"I hope that Napoli win these last few games. You watch if we go up I will do a striptease," she told Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview on Tuesday.

"The fans have a total passion, the city deserves promotion."

Napoli are third in Serie B, Italy's second division, and have five games left to force their way into the top two or face a promotion playoff.

In Italian: Festa Napoli: ora sarebbe A

La squadra di Reja vince 1-0 a Brescia grazie a una rete di Pià a fine primo tempo. In questo momento i partenopei, con 10 punti di vantaggio sul Mantova quarto, sarebbero in serie A senza giocare i play-off.

Il Napoli si impone 1-0 sul Brescia al Rigamonti e conquista tre punti che lo rilanciano nel testa a testa col Genoa per la conquista della seconda piazza e lo portano a +10 dalla quarta (il Mantova), regalandogli una virtuale promozione, se il campionato finisse oggi. Parte meglio il Brescia, ma la differenza alla fine sta tutta nella capacità realizzativa delle due squadre: Pià concretizza l'unico tiro a rete partenopeo, Possanzini, Serafini e poi Cerci sotto rete sbagliano di tutto e di più, vanificando il generoso tentativo di rimonta.

La Classifica

Gazzetta