Higuain evokes memories of Maradona as Napoli storm Serie A

If asked, Gonzalo Higuain would probably be the first person to laugh off any suggestion of comparisons with the great Diego Maradona. The little genius from Villa Fiorito was a one-off, a unique gift as much for his adopted home Naples as his nation of birth.

But Higuain has his own charms. Two more goals for his season tally were raucously cheered by the San Paolo faithful as he returned Napoli to a seat they have not enjoyed since his portly compatriot stretched the sky-blue shirt to breaking point 25 years previously.

Napoli sit alone at the top of Serie A for the first time since 1990, when Maradona terrorised Italian defences for the last time before the World Cup of that year marked his zenith and the start of his spectacular downfall. Maradona finished as his side's top scorer that season (with 16 goals) on the way to the title and all signs point to Higuain making a similarly brilliant contribution to another Scudetto challenge.

The Argentina international needed just 64 seconds - the second-quickest strike of this Serie A campaign - to open the scoring in Monday's top-of-the-table clash against Inter. The visitors hesitated in clearing the first attack of the game and Higuain's poaching instincts were as keen as ever as he muscled past Yuto Nagatomo to come away with the ball. What followed was a vicious shot that was still rising as it nestled in the roof of Samir Handanovic's net and sent the home fans wild.

Just over an hour into the contest Inter suffered another bloodied nose at Higuain's hands. Raul Albiol's header caught the Nerazzurri defence on the back foot, and once Jeison Murillo and Miranda realised what was coming it was too late. Higuain latched on to the ball, and with impressive strength and vision held off the two desperate markers and picked his spot as he lit the fuse on the cannon attached to the end of his right leg.

Handanovic was once more powerless as the shot rocketed into the net, and though Inter attempted a fight-back the points were already safe courtesy of the Argentine hitman.

"Higuain is my heir," the great man himself told Italian daily Corriere del Mezzogiorno before the last international break. "He is the most complete attacker Argentina have." The clash with Inter also saw the new Argentine hero equal an historic mark in San Paolo, netting in his eighth consecutive Serie A home game. The only other man to reach such a mark for Napoli? The one and only Diego, who achieved the same landmark in 1987-88 shortly after delivering an unforgettable Scudetto the previous season.

Nobody - Higuain or any footballer on this planet - is likely to surpass the little No. 10's legacy. Maradona was the man who walked away from the glitz and glamour of Barcelona to an unfashionable club in Italy's marginalised southern region, mocked and insulted by its wealthier northern neighbours. But almost single-handedly, he silenced the stigmatisation of the Mezzogiorno as a place solely comprised of illiterate peasants and blood-thirsty mafiosos.

Maradona humanised Naples, he brought glory for the first time to a club and city which up to that point had known struggle and disappointment. Thanks to him, what was in the 1980s a backwater club is now famous in all four corners of the planet, inextricably linked to perhaps the greatest player ever to juggle a football. For all those reasons and more, El Diego is and will remain a demigod for the Partenopei.

Higuain, meanwhile, will only be judged for his goals. And right now he simply cannot stop scoring. He's scored 12 times in the opening 14 fixtures to restore Napoli to a place they have not experienced since Maradona and Careca upset the Italian football aristocracy a quarter of a century ago. The double, moreover, came when it most counted, in a must-win clash against an Inter side which had conceded just seven goals in 13 prior to their San Paolo ordeal. It was a sense of timing and occasion that was never lacking from his superlative countryman - the ability to strike when the team needs you the most.

He may not be Maradona and the current generation of Napoli supporters may not venerate the ex-Real Madrid scorer in the same way as their elders did with Diego. However, those dusty memories of title exploits are being reinvigorated by the new San Paolo idol, and if Pipita can continue his wonderful form there is no reason why he cannot return the Scudetto to a group of fans who have grown up on stories of the Argentine genius that first placed them on the football map.