The Argentina forward found the net three times in his side’s thrashing of the Gialloblu at the Stadio San Paolo, which will ease pressure on his coach

Napoli thrashed Hellas Verona 6-2 in Sunday’s Serie A clash to ease pressure on under-fire boss Rafael Benitez.

A hat-trick from Gonzalo Higuain, along with two goals from Marek Hamsik and another from Jose Callejon, was enough to seal all three points, with Verona replying through Emil Hallfredsson and Nicolas Lopez.

Benitez’s men had to recover from a poor start after conceding with only 25 seconds on the clock, after Hallfredsson pounced on a poor clearance from Raul Albiol to drive the ball into the bottom corner.

And the hosts had to wait until just before the half-time interval to draw level, with Hamsik finding the back of the net from close range on the half-volley.

Napoli then took the lead just before the hour mark, with Hamsik again the scorer, after the Slovakia international made no mistake at the second time of asking following a rebound from his own first effort.

They were then pegged back however, with Lopez avoiding the attentions of two defenders before equalising against the run of play.

But just two minutes later Napoli were back in the lead, with Higuain slotting home after a mistake from Hallfredsson.

Callejon then put daylight between the two sides after being set up by Hamsik, before Higuain added another to put the result beyond doubt.

And the Argentina international put the icing on the cake in the 90th minute, sealing his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Dries Mertens had been brought down in the box.