There are still streamers and banners hanging over the city’s streets and piazzas celebrating Napoli’s Serie A title two seasons ago.
Now there might be another championship to celebrate.
Scott McTominay scored two first-half goals and Napoli beat Torino 2-0 on Sunday to move three points clear of Inter Milan with four rounds remaining in the Italian league.
Inter lost 1-0 at home to Roma earlier for their third consecutive defeat.
Despite losing Victor Osimhen in September and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in January, Napoli are in position to claim their second title in three seasons. That’s a shorter span than the two championships in four seasons with Diego Maradona in 1987 and 1990.
McTominay has scored five goals in three matches.
The Scotland international put Napoli ahead seven minutes in at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona after redirecting a pass from Andre-Frank Anguissa. Then he doubled the advantage shortly before halftime with a similar goal, redirecting a cross amid four defenders.
With 11 league goals, McTominay set the record for a Scottish player in Serie A, overtaking Denis Law, who had 10 with Torino in 1961-62.
Philip Billing nearly made it 3-0 for Napoli when his header hit the crossbar in the second half.
France forward Marcus Thuram has missed three matches and Inter have lost all three without scoring a single goal.
Roma’s attacking midfielder Matias Soulé scored midway through the first half in Milan by redirecting a deflection as the Giallorossi produced one chance after another.
For Inter, the defeat followed a 1-0 loss at Bologna in the league a week ago and a 3-0 midweek loss to AC Milan in an Italian Cup semi-final derby.
Thuram, who has been out with a left thigh issue, could return for the first leg of the Champions League semi=finals at Barcelona on Wednesday.
Without Thuram, Lautaro Martinez has appeared fatigued attempting to carry Inter’s attack. And Marko Arnautovic, Thuram’s replacement, has been ineffective.
Roma are sixth, level on points with fifth-placed Bologna, and two points behind fourth-placed Juventus, who beat Monza 2-0.
Roma’s unbeaten run reached 18 matches, stretching back to December. It was the final game at the San Siro for Giallorossi coach Claudio Ranieri, who plans to retire at the end of the season.
Third-placed Atalanta were held 1-1 by relegation-threatened Lecce in a match that was postponed from Friday due to the death of Lecce’s physical therapist.
Jesper Karlsson put Lecce ahead in the first half with a penalty and Mateo Retegui equalised in the second half with a penalty for his league-leading 24th goal.
Christian Pulisic scored for the first time in more than a month and ninth-placed AC Milan won 2-0 at relegation-threatened Venezia.
Pulisic’s 10th league goal of the season came five minutes in when Venezia gifted the ball to Milan and Youssouf Fofana set up the US in the middle of the area.
Milan produced several more chances but couldn’t quite find the target until Santiago Gimenez lobbed over the goalkeeper to finish off a counterattack in second-half stoppage time.
Nico Gonzalez and Randal Kolo Muani scored first-half goals for Juventus against last-placed Monza. Juventus played the entire second half with 10 men after Kenan Yildiz was sent off for elbowing an opponent in the face.
Como beat Genoa 1-0 and secured a second consecutive season in the top flight for the first time since the 1980s.
Gabriel Strefezza scored near the hour mark for Como by finishing off a counterattack.
Also, Fiorentina beat Empoli 2-1 in a Tuscan derby with goals from Yacine Adli and Rolando Mandragora. T
https://thewest.com.au/sport/soccer/mctominay-the-toast-of-naples-after-key-serie-a-goals-c-18507354
