Serie A | Monza 0-1 Napoli: McTominay keeps Scudetto hope alive | OneFootball

Scott McTominay’s third goal in two games allowed Napoli to get the better of Monza and pile pressure on leaders Inter with their first away victory in three months.

The Partenopei missed David Neres, Alessandro Buongiorno and Juan Jesus, so Rafa Marin got his first Serie A start after just two cameo appearances in this competition all season, with Leonardo Spinazzola pushed into a more advanced role, plus Billy Gilmour preferred to Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa. The hosts were practically doomed already, with Danilo D’Ambrosio, Armando Izzo, Keita Balde Diao, Kevin Zeroli and Matteo Pessina injured.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro got down the left and rolled across for a Dany Mota Carvalho tap-in, denied by the crucial Rafa Marin interception from six yards.

Stefano Turati struggled to parry a powerful McTominay free kick, then moments later Luca Caldirola threw himself in the path of McTominay’s tap-in to deflect it over. On the resulting corner, Amir Rrahmani nodded just wide.

Gaetano Castrovilli almost gave Monza a shock opener on 29 minutes, as he got away from Matias Olivera and then Rafa Marin down the right, flashing a shot across the face of goal to skim the far post.

Monza also threatened when a corner was cleared to the edge of the area, where Alessandro Bianco’s volley was deflected wide off teammate Dany Mota Carvalho.

MONZA, ITALY – APRIL 19: Samuele Birindelli of Monza battles for possession with Leonardo Spinazzola of Napoli during the Serie A match between Monza and Napoli at U-Power Stadium on April 19, 2025 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

When Matteo Politano’s curler was deflected into the path of Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian horribly scuffed the finish from six yards. Monza also came close before half-time, Dany Mota unable to get enough to flick on the Georgios Kyriakopoulos low cross from the left.

Castrovilli also had timid penalty appeals waved away as he went down too easily, while Andrea Carboni made a crucial tackle on Lukaku after Samuele Birindelli’s misplaced pass sparked a counter-attack.

Giacomo Raspadori was introduced for Matias Olivera, dropping Spinazzola into his more regular left-back role. It almost paid off when Raspadori’s through ball sent Politano sprinting clear on goal, but Turati kept his cool for a decisive one-handed save.

For the sixth time this season, the deadlock was broken by McTominay, who managed to shrug off Caldirola for a free header on Raspadori’s cross from the left, catching Turati stranded off his line. The former Manchester United midfielder continues to improve his personal best of nine league goals, 10 including the Coppa Italia.

A deflected Raspadori effort looped up and risked surprising Turati under the bar, but the 1-0 result proved enough for Napoli’s first away victory since January 18 over Atalanta.

McTominay 72 (N)