A swift early goal by Scott McTominay secured a narrow 1-0 away victory for Napoli against Cagliari in their Serie A clash on Friday night. This marked Antonio Conte’s team’s fourth consecutive win, propelling them to second place in the league standings.
For the first time in nearly five months, McTominay and Kevin De Bruyne started a match together, a partnership last seen in their 3-1 triumph over league leaders Inter in October. Cagliari, currently 15th, featured two recently capped Italy internationals, Elia Caprile and Marco Palestra, while Napoli’s squad included four: Alex Meret, Alessandro Buongiorno, Leonardo Spinazzola, and Matteo Politano.
Ahead of this fixture, Antonio Conte’s squad had claimed victory in their preceding three Serie A encounters, each ending with a 2-1 scoreline, in contrast to the hosts who had failed to win any of their last six games.
Barely a minute into the game, McTominay scored upon his return to the starting eleven. The Scottish international put his team ahead from the match’s opening corner, which was played short to Politano, rebounded in the box, and then tapped in by McTominay from the goal line.
The remainder of the first half unfolded as a somewhat balanced but occasionally disjointed contest. Conte visibly expressed his frustration on two occasions due to sloppy passes from Buongiorno and Gilmour deep in their own half, surrendering possession unnecessarily.
Napoli’s only other first-half attempt on target originated from a rather weak Politano free-kick, whereas Cagliari came closest to scoring when Sebastiano Esposito struck a shot across Vanja Milinkovic-Savic’s goal from a narrow angle.
De Bruyne nearly beat Caprile with a powerful low shot from the edge of the box, but the newly called-up Italian goalkeeper managed to parry it, allowing his defenders to ultimately clear the danger.
Napoli offered a preview of their star players’ potential as McTominay, De Bruyne, and Politano combined with exquisite one-touch passing within the Cagliari penalty area. However, Caprile expertly thwarted his fellow countryman who had positioned himself at the edge of the six-yard box.
Cagliari has yet to secure a victory this season after finding themselves behind at halftime, a trend that persisted despite their earnest attempts on Friday evening.
Fabio Piscane’s team’s winless streak now extends to seven matches, yielding only two points during this period. Conversely, Conte and his squad have notched four consecutive wins and currently occupy second place in the league table, awaiting AC Milan’s match on Saturday.
Cagliari 0-1 Napoli
McTominay 2’
