Scotland 4-2 Denmark - the debrief
Scudetto holders dig deep to take down Roma at Olimpico
Scott McTominay helped drive Napoli to a statement win in their defence of the Serie A title by winning 1-0 away at league leaders Roma.
Napoli went into the match at Stadio Olimpico two points behind I Giallorossi, but they showed why they are champions with a big performance on Sunday evening.
Scotland internationalist McTominay played the whole match in the centre of midfield alongside Stanislav Lobotka. There was once again no place for his international teammate Billy Gilmour, who continues to be sidelined by a groin complaint.
Scott McTominay and his Napoli teammates lead the celebrations after a big win in Rome.placeholder image
Scott McTominay and his Napoli teammates lead the celebrations after a big win in Rome. | Getty Images
Roma have been revitalised this season under new head coach Gian Piero Gasperini and have found form both at home and abroad. They showed their Europa League credentials by defeating Rangers at Ibrox earlier in the campaign and face Celtic in Glasgow next month. But it is in Serie A where they have really excelled.
So for Napoli to win in the capital is a huge scalp for the Scudetto holders, who have not quite matched the heights they hit last season - not helped by injuries to key players such as Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne along the way.
Neither Lukaku or De Bruyne featured this week, but it did not matter. The only goal of the match against Roma came in the 36th minute through Brazilian forward David Neres, who played a one-two with Manchester Utd loanee Rasmus Hojlund before racing clear and finishing well.
Napoli had to dig in thereafter but held out for the victory. They move into second spot on 28 points, behind leaders AC Milan on goal difference (+10 versus +9). Inter and Roma are on 27 points, with Bologna and Como on 24 points. Bologna, who have Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson in their ranks, could close the gap if they defeat Cremonese at home on Monday night.
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Napoli take on Juventus next weekend at home in Serie A, but before that they have a last 16 Coppa Italia tie against Cagliari, also at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Scotland striker Che Adams scored his third goal of the season for Torino. However, Il Toro went down 2-1 in southern Italy and now sit 13th in the standings.