McTominay fires Napoli level with Inter as Conte fuels exit rumours

Scott McTominay (centre) leaps above the Monza defence to nod in the winner for Napoli at U-Power Stadium. (AP pic)MONZA: Scott McTominay headed Napoli level on points with Inter Milan at the top of Serie A with the only goal in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Monza, but coach Antonio Conte lashed out at owner Aurelio De Laurentiis with angry post-match comments.Scotland midfielder McTominay nodded home his 10th goal in all competitions this season from Giacomo Raspadori’s cross in the 72nd minute to save Napoli’s blushes after a drab display in northern Italy.McTominay’s third goal in a week boosted Napoli’s bid for a second league title in three seasons and piled pressure on reigning champions Inter who are at high-flying Bologna on Easter Sunday.Beyond that goal, Antonio Conte’s team created little against the division’s worst team in Monza, who are 12 points from safety with five matches remaining and set to be relegated.“It’s a match that seems like it should be easy but the prize up for grabs is so important that there is a lot of pressure,” said Conte.“A lot of these boys are in a head-to-head (for a league title) for the first time. And it’s an unexpected head-to-head… Just to be there is unexpected and extraordinary.”Conte continued to fuel rumours of his departure at the end of his first season as Napoli coach after raising eyebrows on Friday with his open frustration at the January sale of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.‘Not stupid’De Laurentiis then said that he should have waited until the end of the season before making those comments, causing a visibly irritated Conte to hit back while talking to broadcaster DAZN.“You have to live in the present… the people want to win and are ambitious. I’m open to everything, but we need to see where we are,” said Conte when asked about his future.“I’m happy in Naples and I’m working for fans who give me something emotionally. That’s very important. But you know that whoever hires me knows that I bring with me expectations.“People hire me and think ‘you have to finish first or second, even if you finished 10th the year before, and you have to fight for the title, qualifying for Europe isn’t enough’.“I can handle all of that, but I’m not stupid if there aren’t the resources in place to achieve that.”Conte also complained about the pitches at Napoli’s Castel Volturno training ground, saying that they were supposed to be relaid and suggesting the club’s failure to do so was behind recent calf injuries – the latest for Kvaratskhelia’s replacement David Neres.Regardless of where Conte is next season, he and Napoli have a great chance to win the Scudetto as after Easter they face only one team in the top half of the table – 10th-placed Torino – and have no other commitments.Como eye safetyMeanwhile, Inter have a packed schedule, with the second leg of their Italian Cup semi-final with AC Milan coming up on Wednesday, while Barcelona await in the last four of the Champions League.Inter will lead Napoli on goal difference even if they lose at Bologna, who are chasing Champions League qualification, but should the pair finish the season level on points the title will be decided by a play-off.Roma beat Verona 1-0 thanks to an early Eldor Shomurodov strike to move to within two points of Juventus who sit fourth and are at Parma on Monday.Assane Diao fired Como towards safety with a brace in his team’s impressive 3-0 win at struggling Lecce who are one place and two points above the relegation zone.Como are 13th on 39 points, 15 above the bottom three with five fixtures remaining in their first Serie A season in over two decades.Diao has been one of the key reasons for the club’s near-certain top-flight survival, scoring eight times since arriving from Real Betis in January, when Como invested heavily in new players in order to avoid the drop.

MatchPoint Times

McTominay fires Napoli level with Inter as Conte fuels exit rumours

The Italian coach raises eyebrows as he slams owner Aurelio De Laurentiis in a fiery post-match interview.

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