Important victory at the Maradona
Napoli picked up a 2-0 win over Torino on Sunday evening thanks to a brace by the unstoppable Scott McTominay, who opened the scoring with just a few minutes on the clock when he turned home Frank Anguissa’s low cross. The Scot doubled Antonio Conte’s side’s lead towards the end of the first half with a fine finish from a Matteo Politano cross.
Here’s what head coach Antonio Conte had to say after the game:
“We’re pleased with the performance. It wasn’t easy to manage such a finely poised moment. We’re top of the table, but it’s not the first time and it’s nothing new for us to have to play this role this season.”
On McTominay’s two almost identical goals:
“Scott’s goals came from moves and plays that we’d worked on in training. You’ve got to find different ways to score goals and Scott’s certainly an important weapon for us.
“Now we’ve got to focus fully on the next match. The number of games left is getting smaller and any mistake could prove fatal. One thing I can definitely say is that we’re passing on strong emotions to our fans. Winning the Scudetto would certainly be a massive achievement.”
A word on the tragedy that struck Lecce:
“I’d like to send my condolences to the Graziano family following the passing of the physiotherapist. I knew him and I also knew his father. My thoughts are with Lecce and the city where I was born. It’s an awful tragedy that’s deeply shaken us.”
Scott McTominay, once again man of the match, shared his emotions immediately after the game:
“I’m very happy for all the fans. It was a hugely emotional night in front of the Stadio Maradona faithful.
“We’ve got to stay calm. We’re out in front, but we have to take it game by game. We’re not making comparisons with the team from two seasons ago. We’ve just got to continue with the same mentality in the last four matches ahead of us.”
Leonardo Spinazzola analysed Napoli’s form:
“We’ve worked so hard to get to this point and to be here fighting for the Scudetto. We deserve to be in this position because our performances are the result of a great amount of hard work.
“We believe, and we’ve always believed, but now we’ve got to keep working with the same intensity to approach our remaining matches in the best possible way.”
Napoli 2-0 Torino (HT: 2-0)
Scorer: McTominay 7 and 41.
NAPOLI: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Buongiorno (Rafa Marin 64), Olivera (Raspadori 86), Anguissa (Billing 58), Lobotka (Gilmour 86), McTominay, Politano, Spinazzola, Lukaku (Simeone 86).
Coach: Conte.
TORINO: Milinkovic-Savic; Pedersen, Coco (Karamoh 68), Maripan, Masina (Walukiewicz 85), Tameze (Ilic 46), Linetty (Lazaro 59), Elmas, Casadei, Biraghi (Vlasic 59), Adams.
Coach: Vanoli.
Referee: Mariani.
Booked: Ilic, Maripan, Tameze.
