Step aside Leo Messi, Carlos Tevez, and ... er ... Carlos Marinelli , there's a new New Maradona on the scene, and this one even plays for Napoli. Ezequiel Ivan Lavezzi, a €5.5m summer signing from San Lorenzo, had already signalled his arrival with a match-winning hat-trick against Pisa in the Coppa Italia last month, but it takes a little more than bullying Serie B sides to make i partoponei forget el Pibe d'Oro . Playing the lead role in a 5-0 rout of Udinese on their own patch, on the other hand, might just have done the trick.

"You're better than Diego," bellowed one delirious fan from the stands after seeing Lavezzi thread a perfectly weighted through-ball into the path of sub Roberto Sosa for Napoli's fifth. An overstatement, for sure, but understandable: Lavezzi had just orchestrated the biggest Serie A upset since the San Siro tea lady told Ronaldo she was out of Garibaldis. Newly-promoted Napoli hadn't scored five away from home in Serie A since 1929; they hadn't won at Udinese since 1987, when Maradona himself scored two in a 3-0 win; and they hadn't even managed a draw in their first league game at home to Cagliari. Udinese, despite a few injuries, were heavy favourites after their 1-1 draw at Inter in round one.

Even a goal and two assists didn't do justice to Lavezzi's performance. Deployed as the second striker in Edy Reja's 3-5-2, Lavezzi drifted back and forth between the flanks, regularly dropping deep to take possession so he could run at defenders. From the moment he skipped past Giandomenico Mesto and nudged the ball across goal for Marcelo Zalayeta to open the scoring 16 minutes in, his every movement brought panic in the Udinese back line. Scythed down inside the box but denied a penalty on 36 minutes, Lavezzi responded by putting in the initial ball that led to Maurizio Domizzio doubling the scoring five minutes later. Twenty minutes into the second half it was he who put the game beyond doubt, bamboozling Andrea Dossena with his sleight of foot before cutting inside him and thrashing the ball past Antonio Chimenti.

"You could hardly ask for any more," reflected Corriere dello Sport's Rino Cesarano of Lavezzi's performance. "He left everyone open mouthed," agreed Gazzetta dello Sport's Sebastiano Vernazza. "Modern football: organisation and pressing," added Vernazza. "Then along comes a player like Lavezzi, who with one feint demolishes a century of elaborate theories from Coverciano (the Italian football association's training HQ)".

The comparisons with Maradona, of course, are tenuous - being short, Argentinian, and a bit of a handful in the No10 role doesn't quite fulfil all the criteria - and whilst Lavezzi possesses similar speed and close control, he has less natural flair. As suggested by one other much loved calcio pundit of late , his direct style probably has far more in common with former Lazio favourite Beppe Signori.

Excitable hacks were quick to note that Lavezzi was signed on July 5 this year - the same day Maradona was first presented to fans at the San Paolo in 1984, but that's about as far as the similarities can be stretched. When Maradona arrived he was an established star back home and had already enjoyed two successful, if turbulent, years with Barcelona, while Lavezzi only made his international debut in April. In fact as recently as five years ago he had given up on making it as a footballer altogether and begun working as an assistant to his electrician brothers, before deciding to give it one more shot. Still, at least comparisons with El Diego are more reasonable than those made with Carlos Tevez; this model actually scores goals.

Either way, his emergence will come as a massive relief to manager Reja, a man who was quite preposterously already feeling the pressure after the loss to Cagliari. The local press had been openly critical of him for sticking with the 3-5-2 that got them promoted, arguing that 4-4-2 would serve them better at this level and pointing to the improved performance when he switched things around (albeit on 10 men) against Livorno in the Coppa Italia.

Far from backing down, however, Reja not only stuck to his tactical guns but swung a surprise by controversially dropping Emanuele Calaio, Napoli's top scorer for the past two seasons, in favour of Zalayeta - a new arrival from Juventus. Zalayeta's two goals may have been tap-ins, but they will serve as more than enough vindication for a man dismissed by one hack as having "more muscles than goals", and his preference for lingering in behind the centre-backs could make him the ideal foil for Lavezzi's free-roaming approach. Combined with a defence (bolstered by the return from suspension of Paolo Cannavaro) that kept highly talented Fabio Quagliarella at bay, Napoli would appear to have a solid platform for consolidating in the top flight.

Juventus, of course, are aiming a little higher, and Claudio Ranieri was talking titles again after a somewhat undeserved 3-2 win at Cagliari that owed much to the goalkeeping of Gigi Buffon. "Our objective is very simple," said Ranieri afterwards. "To regain those titles that were taken way from us, and show that we earned them on the pitch."

For now the Old Lady shares top spot with Roma, who strolled past Siena 3-0 after being set on their way by Alberto Aquilani's second 25-yard thunderbolt in as many weeks. Inter were below their best again in a bitty 2-0 win at Empoli , but will have been pleased to see Milan held to a 1-1 draw at home to Fiorentina last night after their Super Cup win on Friday.

One team that won't be happy, however, is Genoa - yet to score after two rounds back in the top flight. I rossoblu had a new Maradona of their own a few years back, you see, before they had to sell him back to Argentina after getting dumped into Serie C for fixing a match against Venezia. Funnily enough, he's still kicking around; you might want to look out for him. His name, of course, is Ezequiel Ivan Lavezzi.

Results: Atalanta 2-0 Parma, Cagliari 2-3 Juventus, Catania 0-0 Genoa, Empoli 0-2 Inter, Livorno 2-4 Palermo, Milan 1-1 Fiorentina, Roma 3-0 Siena, Sampdoria 0-0 Lazio, Torino 2-2 Reggina, Udinese 0-5 Napoli.