Napoli edged past Cagliari at Unipol Domus to rack up a fourth straight league win on Friday evening.
Scott McTominay – making his return to the starting line-up – scored what turned out to be the only goal of the game with barely 60 seconds on the clock, poking home through a crowd following a corner. It was the Scot's seventh league goal of the campaign and his 11th overall this season.
The Azzurri had several chances to double their lead but ended up seeing out the game to put another three points on the board.
Antonio Conte analysed the match at full time.
"We made too many mistakes in the first half. After the goal, we didn't keep things tidy. We certainly could have done better.
“We went looking for another goal in the second half to make it more comfortable. We went close but Cagliari never really got a shot on goal, although they kept us on our toes till the end.
“We knew how important this game was. We wanted three points to consolidate our position and we got them deservedly. Keeping a clean sheet is a very good sign for us going into this season finale.
“We've done an amazing job over the last few months to stay at the top of the table. I thank and congratulate my players for the solidity they've shown despite all the difficulties. Now we must be good enough to make the most of what we've achieved so far and maybe put a bit of pressure on those above us.”
Scott McTominay was named man of the match after netting the only goal.
“We battled hard against an excellent team. We managed to get the opening goal and that was very important.
“We have to keep going like this and try to win as many games as we can after the break so that we can go as far as possible.”
Matteo Politano gave his post-match thoughts too.
"It was crucial to win today. We got the early goal but we should have killed it off instead of having to suffer until the end.
“Cagliari are a tough side, especially at home but we deserved to win. Now we're looking forward.”
Cagliari 0-1 Napoli (HT 0-1)
Scorer: McTominay 1.
CAGLIARI: Caprile; Ze Pedro (Mendy 73), Mina, Dossena; Palestra, Adopo (Deiola 73), Gaetano, Sulemana, Rodriguez (Raterink 84), Folorunsho (Kilicsoy 66), S. Esposito (Trepi 84).
Coach: Fabio Pisacane.
NAPOLI: Milinkovic-Savic; Beukema, Buongiorno, Olivera (Juan Jesus 84) Politano (Spinazzola 77), Gilmour (Anguissa 77), Lobotka (Alisson 55), Gutierrez; De Bruyne, McTominay; Hojlund.
Coach: Antonio Conte.
Referee: Mariani.
Booked: Lobotka, Ze Pedro, Olivera, Dossena
