Napoli back on top in Italy after sealing fourth Serie A crown
Napoli climbed back to the top of Italian soccer after sealing the Serie A title on Friday, bouncing back from disaster to win the Italian championship for the fourth time.
Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku netted in a 2-0 win over Cagliari at a packed and wild Stadio Diego Armando Maradona as Napoli secured its second league crown in three years on the final day of the season.
Napoli finished the season a point ahead of closest rival Inter Milan, which won 2-0 at Como. Inter had to play half the match with 10 men after goalkeeper Pepe Reina was sent off just before halftime of his last ever match.
Friday's triumph crowned a season which started with few thinking Napoli could challenge Inter after finishing 10th as the reigning champion last term.
"It's happened again and it's fantastic ... we've had a really great season and it's all thanks to the boys who wanted to put themselves out there, especially those who won the league two years ago," said coach Antonio Conte.
Conte has taken Napoli by the scruff of the neck but did nothing to squash rumors that he will leave in the summer after one season in Naples due to his frustrations at a lack of investment from owner Aurelio De Laurentiis.
"I have a good relationship with the president and his family," said Conte when pressed on his future by DAZN.
"I've had the opportunity to get to know him and him me, we're celebrating together and we're two winners. Maybe we're a bit different, but we're two winners."
Inter's win meant nothing, as another Scudetto party was kicked off in Naples by the fans' new heroes McTominay and Lukaku, with spectators lighting flares and setting off fireworks in the streets in celebration.
Scotland midfielder McTominay, named player of the season, signed with the league campaign already underway in August and immediately made an impact on a team still reeling from last season's disaster.
His 12th goal of his first Serie A season, three minutes before halftime, was a fitting way for Napoli to break the deadlock as he has been the symbol of the team's renewal under Conte.
"I'm lost for words. It's incredible you know, the sacrifice that every single player in the group has put forward to the cause," said McTominay.
"And the people deserve it because they've been behind us from day one, and for me to come and experience this is a dream."
McTominay's acrobatic volley from Matteo Politano's cross broke the ice in a tense stadium, as supporters watched a clutch of good chances come and go while Inter took the lead through Stefan de Vrij in the 21st minute in Como and briefly moved to the top of the division.
And Lukaku made sure that Napoli would secure title glory five minutes after the break when he collected Amir Rrahmani's long pass and held off Yerry Mina before ramming home the goal which sealed the deal.
Joaquin Correa doubled Inter's lead just as Lukaku scored, cutting inside Ivan Smolcic before confidently sliding home his second goal of the season.
But Inter now turns its attention to the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain in Munich, where Simone Inzaghi's team will try to win club soccer's biggest prize after conceding the Scudetto to Napoli.
Twelve points lost from winning positions played their part in Inter losing the title and the second-string team sent out at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia suggested that Inzaghi was already thinking ahead to next weekend.
Inter had been gunning to repeat the treble won under Jose Mourinho in 2010 earlier in the season, but the Champions League is now its only chance for a trophy from a long and draining campaign.
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