Football Italia
·1 dicembre 2024
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·1 dicembre 2024
Scott McTominay’s strike proved sufficient to give Napoli a hard-fought victory away to struggling Torino and keep them top of the table.
The leaders felt the pressure with a group of four teams one point behind them, but the only absentee was Pasquale Mazzocchi. Toro had one point from the last four rounds and missed Ivan Ilic, Duvan Zapata, Perr Schuurs and Zanos Savva, but Antonio Sanabria and Samuele Ricci shook off knocks.
It was the hosts who had a huge chance after four minutes, Che Adams unable to keep his free header on target from 10 yards on a splendid Gvidas Gineitis cross.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia twice failed to make the most of Torino giving it away cheaply, firing the first over and seeing the second accidentally charged down by teammate Romelu Lukaku.
Napoli were denied by two big Vanja Milinkovic-Savic saves in quick succession, from point-blank range on Lukaku’s back-heel flick set up by Kvaratskhelia, then flying to fingertip away the Georgia international’s looping header.
epa11751599 Torino’s Mergim Vojvoda (C) and Napoli’s Matteo Politano (L) in action while Napoli�s head coach Antonio Conte (R) gives instructions to players during the Italian Serie A soccer match Torino FC vs SSC Napoli at the Olimpico Grande Torino Stadium in Turin, Italy, 01 December 2024. EPA-EFE/Alessandro Di Marco
The visitors finally broke the deadlock when Kvaratskhelia dribbled into the box and it came to Scott McTominay to sweep first-time into the near bottom corner from 14 yards.
Torino really should’ve equalised on 37 minutes when Napoli failed to clear a corner and it was rolled across the face of goal for Saul Coco to tap in undisturbed from four yards, but he somehow got it terribly wrong and stumbled on the ball, slowing it down.
Milinkovic-Savic kept the scoreline down with another great reaction save on the Matias Olivera header, then in stoppages used his legs to deny the Giovanni Simeone angled drive.
McTominay 31 (N)