Dries Mertens fires hat-trick as Napoli keep Serie A title hopes alive by smashing six past Bologna to close the gap on Juventus

Dries Mertens scored a second-half hat-trick as Napoli did their best to keep the Serie A title race alive by thrashing Bologna 6-0 on Tuesday.

Napoli, still missing top scorer Gonzalo Higuain as he sat out the final match of his three-match ban, were set on their way to victory courtesy of Manolo Gabbiadini's first-half brace, while David Lopez completed the rout.

Dries Mertens scored a second-half hat-trick as Napoli did their best to keep the Serie A title race alive

Bologna were unable to handle Mertens throughout but Napoli may still fall short in their quest to win the league

The win left Napoli six points behind leaders Juventus who host Lazio on Wednesday.

Despite Napoli's efforts on Tuesday, Juventus need only seven points from their last five games to clinch a fifth successive title.

Gabbidiani opened the scoring with a stylish finish in the 10th minute, turning to sweep the ball home with an angled shot after Mertens chipped the ball over the Bologna defence, and then added another from a penalty in the 35th minute.

Mertens opened his account in the 58th minute when he twisted one way and then the other to outfox his marker, before scoring with a low shot which was deflected past Antonio Mirante.

The Belgian then exchanged passes with Omar El Kaddouri before adding the fourth in the 80th minute and completed his hat-trick eight minutes later with an unstoppable shot past Mirante.

Lopez completed the rout with a fortuitous effort after his first shot was stopped by Mirante but the rebound hit his chest and flew into the net.