Football Italia
·15 September 2024
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·15 September 2024
Scotland internationals Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour made their first Serie A appearances as second half substitutes in a 4-0 away victory over Cagliari on Sunday. Here are the numbers behind the new recruits’ first Partenopei outings.
Both players were introduced in the 74th minute, with Gilmour replacing Stanislav Lobotka in a like-for-like swap in central midfield, while McTominay came on for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and played in a slightly more advanced role and slightly wider than he had played for Manchester United.
Both players only had 16 minutes to make an impact, and Napoli were already three goals ahead when they were introduced, so it was an exercise in seeing the game out more than anything.
Gilmour and McTominay both finished their first appearances with a solid pass completion rate, only misplacing one pass each. Gilmour ended with a record of 93% with 14 out of 15 completed, and McTominay with 90% from nine out of 10 successful passes.
In his central midfield role, Gilmour was able to get stuck in slightly more, and won three out of his four attempted tackles. McTominay had two successful tackles from three attempts and also won one duel in the air.
The most eventful moment for either player came from McTominay late on, who made a bursting run down the Partenopei left flank and attempted to play a ball into the six-yard box from the byline.
That attempt was put behind for a corner, taken by David Neres and placed perfectly onto Alessandro Buongiorno’s head for Napoli’s fourth of the night.
Napoli are not involved in European competition this season, so will be back in action next weekend for the highly-anticipated trip to Turin to face Thiago Motta’s Juventus.