ROME: The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli its second Serie A title in three years on Friday.
Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari.
Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams.
“Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.”
Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won at Juventus and one at Inter Milan — not to mention a Premier League title at Chelsea — Conte said it was “the most unexpected, the most difficult, and the most stimulating in terms of the challenge.”
Conte also noted how he had to try and convince players to stay when he arrived last June.
Napoli needed only to do the same or better than defending champion Inter in the final round of matches, so Inter’s 2-0 win at 10-man Como wasn’t enough for the Nerazzurri.
Napoli finished Serie A one point ahead of Inter.
The southern squad’s fourth Serie A title overall capped an impressive turnaround after the Partenopei finished 10th during a dismal title defense last season.
“The one two years ago was one we were for months, whereas this week we had so much anxiety, we couldn’t wait to get on the field and win this in front of our fans,” said winger Matteo Politano, who provided the cross for McTominay’s goal.
Diego Maradona led Napoli to its first two titles in 1987 and 1990. The 2023 team led by Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia clinched with five rounds to spare.
Inter was heading toward the title until McTominay went airborne to redirect a pass from Politano in the 42nd minute for his 12th goal this season after transferring from Manchester United.
“For me to come and experience this, it’s a dream,” McTominay said.
Lukaku, who was signed from Chelsea in August, controlled a long vertical pass and dribbled by two defenders before scoring in the 51st. It was his 14th goal along with his league-leading 10 assists.
Conte watched the match from the tribune after getting sent off last weekend. But he went down to the pitch at the final whistle and embraced Lukaku, with whom he also won Serie A at Inter in 2021.
McTominay dropped to the pitch in tears when the match finished. Minutes later he was honored as Serie A player of the season.
Napoli players held up signs that read “Again” featuring a “4” for the team’s fourth title.
Napoli fans began cheering and singing hours before kickoff at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and erupted in celebration at the final whistle — including at jumbo screens that were set up in several of the city’s central piazzas.
Cagliari was already sure of avoiding relegation but goalkeeper Alen Sherri was inspired at the start, denying Napoli on multiple occasions early on.
While Napoli won by 16 points two years ago under Luciano Spalletti, this season was a duel with Inter virtually all season. It was also unexpected after Napoli went through three coaches last season – Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri and Francesco Calzona.
But Conte constructed the best defense in Serie A, and brought in Lukaku and McTominay to play alongside holdovers from the 2023 team like captain Di Lorenzo, goalkeeper Alex Meret and midfielder Stanislav Lobotka.
Di Lorenzo matched Maradona by captaining Napoli to two titles.
It also helped that Napoli did not play in Europe this season — keeping the team fresher for Serie A.
Inter rested its starters
Defender Stefan de Vrij scored 20 minutes in for Inter, redirecting a corner kick with a bouncing header.
Como was reduced to 10 men when goalkeeper Pepe Reina was sent off at the end of the first half for a foul on Mehdi Taremi. It was Reina’s final game before retiring.
Joaquín Correa added another for Inter after the break in almost the same moment that Lukaku scored for Napoli.
Inter, which is also preparing for the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain in eight days, rested most of its usual starters, including top strikers Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram.
McTominay and Lukaku goals lead Napoli to Serie A title and Conte’s ‘most unexpected’ trophy
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McTominay and Lukaku goals lead Napoli to Serie A title and Conte’s ‘most unexpected’ trophy
- Napoli finished Serie A one point ahead of Inter
Former cricket captains urge Pakistan to ensure better medical care for Imran Khan in prison
- In a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, 14 former captains, including India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, called for Khan to be treated with “dignity and basic human consideration”
- “The conditions of his imprisonment over the past two and a half years have caused us profound concern,” the cricketers wrote
ISLAMABAD: More than a dozen former international cricket captains have urged Pakistan’s government to ensure better treatment in prison and medical care for former cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, citing concerns about his eyesight, as his party demanded Wednesday he be shifted to hospital from prison.
In a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, 14 former captains, including India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, called for Khan to be treated with “dignity and basic human consideration,” expressing concern about reports that the vision in his right eye had worsened in detention.
“Recent reports concerning his health — particularly the alarming deterioration of his vision while in custody — and the conditions of his imprisonment over the past two and a half years have caused us profound concern,” the cricketers wrote.
There was no immediate official response from Islamabad, but authorities have said that Khan is getting better facilities at the prison, a claim endorsed by Khan’s attorney Salman Safdar, who met with him recently.
Political allies of Khan and lawmakers from his opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party on Wednesday ended a dayslong sit-in outside parliament after doctors reported significant recovery in his right eye and no issues with his left.
Khan, 73, led Pakistan to the 1992 Cricket World Cup and later served as prime minister from 2018 until his ouster in 2022. He has been imprisoned since 2023 after he was convicted of graft and other offenses.
Khan, who has faced multiple trials since then, has said all the charges against him were politically motivated.
Concern about Khan’s health grew in late January after he was taken to hospital for eye treatment. Safdar, his lawyer, said last week that Khan had lost about 85 percent of the vision in his right eye.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said a day earlier that such claims were “propaganda.” Other government officials, citing doctors who treated Khan, said the vision in his right eye had improved significantly, although Khan’s family and his personal physician say they can only confirm his condition once they are allowed to see him.
According to Australia’s The Age newspaper, signatories include former captains Ian Chappell, Clive Lloyd, Allan Border, Michael Brearley, David Gower, John Wright and Kim Hughes, among others who played against Khan. “Many of us competed against him, shared the field with him, or grew up idolizing his all-round brilliance, charisma and competitive spirit,” the letter said.
The group also urged Pakistan to allow “immediate, adequate and ongoing medical attention from qualified specialists of his choosing.”
Several former Pakistani cricketers, including Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar, have also expressed concern publicly after former India batter Ajay Jadeja encouraged Pakistani players to speak out.
Khan made his international debut in 1971 against England and became captain in 1982. Widely regarded as one of cricket’s finest all-rounders, he retired soon after leading Pakistan to its only World Cup title in 1992. He founded the PTI party in 1996 and rose to power in 2018.
Khan was removed from office in April 2022 through a parliamentary no-confidence vote and later jailed after court convictions. He alleges his removal resulted from a US-backed conspiracy involving political rivals and Pakistan’s military, claims denied by Washington, the military and Prime Minister Sharif, who succeeded him.
Despite his imprisonment, Khan remains a central and influential figure in Pakistan’s politics.
