Walter Mazzarri saw plenty of positives in Napoli's display as they overcame Atalanta in Bergamo to give the coach a winning start to his second spell at the club.
Kvichva Kvaratskhelia's first-half header and a second goal created by substitutes Eljif Elmas and Victor Osimhen gave the Azzurri a 2-1 victory over Gianpiero Gasperini's men.
“After a near-perfect first half, I didn't think we'd have to hang on till the end like that,” the boss admitted after the final whistle.
"We started off really well, tight and compact for the whole of the first half. In the second half we weren't quite at the same level. We eased off too much and that's something I'll need to look at in the week.
“Atalanta are an excellent team and this is not an easy ground for anyone to win at. The lads have worked really hard and shown how much their care. They've listened very carefully and taken on board all of the football ideas I've tried to convey.
“We're struck up a good rapport in these first few days. It's still too early to draw any conclusions but I had a good feeling from the start.
“We must keep working away. Napoli are the champions and everyone wants to beat us. I think they haven't had quite the same level of focus this season, which is natural really. Now we must get back to paying attention to every little detail, as I've said to the lads themselves.”
On the impact of the returning Victor Osimhen: “You don't need to be the coach of Napoli to realise who important Osimhen is for the team. He doesn't have a lot of minutes in his legs at the moment and he worked really hard when he came on. He's a key player for us and he knows we need him.”
