Scott McTominay was instrumental as Napoli earned a hard-fought 2-0 win against Qarabag to boost their hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stage on the fifth anniversary of Diego Maradona’s death.
McTominay headed past Qarabag goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski from close range in the 65th minute, before his acrobatic effort seven minutes later was turned into his own goal by defender Marko Jankovic.
Rasmus Hojlund saw a penalty saved nine minutes before McTominay’s opener, and the Manchester United loanee raised his hands in apology to the home fans when substituted after a sixth-straight goalless game.
Napoli went closest in a dull first half when David Neres attempted a Scott McTominay-esque bicycle kick in the 35th minute, but Kochalski produced a fine stop.
Qarabag – who have already beaten Benfica and drawn with Chelsea this season – went close early on but largely played to frustrate the hosts.
Antonio Conte’s side were awarded a penalty in the 56th minute when captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was tripped, but Kochalski dived to his left to keep out Hojlund’s effort.
McTominay finally found the breakthrough when he reacted to a save to nod home the opener, and a flurry of chances followed thereafter.
Hojlund headed wide when unmarked from a corner and Neres hit the crossbar, before McTominay’s wayward effort was turned into his own net by Jankovic.
Napoli fans were in fine voice as they paid tribute to club legend Diego Maradona on the fifth anniversary of his death, with his name chanted in the 10th minute to correspond with his shirt number.
Napoli won just one of their opening four league phase fixtures, but victory moves them up to 18th in the standings with seven points. Qarabag drop to 16th and also have seven points.
On matchday six Napoli will travel to Lisbon to face Jose Mourinho’s Benfica (10 December, 20:00 GMT), while Qarabag host Ajax on the same day (17:45 GMT).
