Scottish duo are influential as on-loan striker bails out champions once again
Napoli returned to winning ways in Serie A as Scotland duo Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour helped them battle back from behind to beat Genoa.
A shock appeared to be on the cards at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday evening after the visitors took the lead in the 34th minute. However, Napoli recovered after the break and found the net twice to rejoin Roma at the top of the league on 15 points.
Napoli lost their first game of the Italian top flight campaign last weekend to AC Milan, who were due to face Juventus in the late Sunday night match in Turin. Manager Antonio Conte has stressed pre-match the importance of Gli Azzurri getting back to winning way quickly and his players responded.
Scott McTominay, left, celebrates Rasmus Hojlund's winner for Napoli against Genoa.placeholder image
Scott McTominay, left, celebrates Rasmus Hojlund's winner for Napoli against Genoa. | Getty Images
The hero of the match was on-loan Man Utd striker Rasmus Hojlund, who continues to show the Old Trafford club what they are missing. Fresh from scoring twice in Wednesday’s Champions League win over Sporting CP, the Danish hitman fired home the winner on 75 minutes after Frank Anguissa had cancelled out Jeff Ekhator’s opener for Genoa.
Hojlund was brought in by Napoli towards the end of the summer transfer window to replace the injured Romelu Lukaku and has now scored four times for the Scudetto holders. His goals will no doubt give those of a Man Utd persuasion food for thought as to how he is was being utilised by his parent club.
Man Utd fans said the same last year as McTominay, who was sold to Napoli by the Red Devils for £25 million 13 months ago, became their talisman on the way to winning Serie A. The Scotland midfielder played the full 90 minutes ahead of joining up with the national team for next week’s World Cup qualifiers against Greece and Belarus.
Gilmour plays a big part for Napoli
Fellow Scot Billy Gilmour came on as a 44th-minute substitute for the injured Stanislas Lobotka and the former Rangers youngster helped Napoli regain a foothold in the match.
Read More
Earlier on Sunday in Serie A, two Scotland midfielder were left on the bench by their respective teams. Lennon Miller watched on as Udinese drew 1-1 at home to Cagliari, while Lewis Ferguson was an unused sub in Bologna’s 4-0 win over ten-man Pisa.
Meanwhile, Scotland defender Josh Doig helped newly-promoted Sassuolo record a fine 1-0 win away at his former club Verona.