Scott McTominay and Kevin de Bruyne scored as defending champions Napoli defeated title rivals Inter Milan to climb to the top of the Serie A table.
De Bruyne’s first-half penalty gave the hosts the lead at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, but McTominay and Frank Anguissa scored to give Napoli their first win in three games, following a league loss to Torino and a 6-2 Champions League thumping by PSV Eindhoven in midweek.
However, in a setback for Antonio Conte’s side, Belgian midfielder De Bruyne, who has four goals in eight games since leaving Manchester City, walked off the pitch shortly after scoring.
Inter had a stronger start, as their skipper Lautaro Martinez was stopped from close range by Napoli goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
However, Napoli took the lead in the 33rd minute when De Bruyne converted a penalty after Henrikh Mkhitaryan fouled Giovanni di Lorenzo in the box.
Both De Bruyne and Mkhitaryan appeared for the final time that evening, as Inter boss Cristian Chivu quickly removed the former Manchester United player.
Denzel Dumfries’ stunning header touched the woodwork as Inter came close to equalizing late on.
However, Napoli extended their advantage nine minutes after the restart when Scotland international McTominay raced onto a long ball from Leonardo Spinazzola and fired a first-time effort past Yann Sommer from the edge of the box.
Hakan Calhanoglu halved the visitors’ deficit with a penalty following a handball by Alessandro Buongiorno, only for Anguissa to restore Napoli’s two-goal lead within seven minutes.
With their sixth win in eight games, Napoli dethroned AC Milan as league leaders by one point.
McTominay scored in Napoli’s 2-0 victory over Cagliari in the final game of the 2024-25 season, propelling the team to their fourth Serie A title at the expense of Inter, who finished one point behind.
Roma, who face Sassuolo on Sunday, may tie Napoli on 18 points with a victory.
