Conte delighted with Napoli response to recent setbacks

Antonio Conte was pleased Napoli responded to his plea for improvement by claiming a 1-0 win over Torino in Serie A on Sunday.

Napoli got back to winning ways last weekend with a 1-0 home win over Roma and maintained that momentum thanks to Scott McTominay’s strike after suffering a 3-0 loss to Atalanta followed by a 1-1 draw at Inter earlier in November.

The Partenopei have now beaten Torino 52 times in Serie A, and only against Lazio (54), have they won more games in the Italian top-flight (52, also against Fiorentina).

Despite that slight dip, Napoli remain top of the standings, four points clear of the teams below them.

“I have a group of guys who really understand when I ask them to improve. This is the aspect I like the most, beyond the result and the standings,” Conte told a press conference.

“We are growing as individuals and as a team… Torino are a great team. I was really afraid of this game. I lived in Turin for more than thirty years. I warned the guys, [and got] a mature response.”

Torino keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, brilliant throughout the day, dived to keep out a low back-heel shot by Romelu Lukaku, who made his 350th start in the top five European leagues, that could have opened the scoring for Napoli in the 23rd minute.

The Serbia goalkeeper showed off his reflexes again when he stretched to deny Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s header one minute later and continued to thwart Napoli’s attack after the restart.

“Sometimes you take refuge in the result. Today we created, but there was a great goalkeeper who prevented us from being more relaxed at the end,” Conte added.

9 – For the fourth time in the history of #SerieA, #Napoli collected nine clean sheets in their first 14 seasonal games played (after 1969/70, 1970/71 and 2021/22). In the current Big-5 European championships, only Juventus has done better (10). Wall.#TorNap pic.twitter.com/ImsbjTyrk8

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) December 1, 2024

McTominay eventually found a way past the Torino keeper in the 31st minute when he struck a shot powerfully inside the near post.

“He is a boy who was not a protagonist at [Manchester] United. I knew him well because I frequented the Premier League, he has quality,” Conte said.

“We were lucky because he agreed to come in a situation in which we were not playing in Europe, having finished in 10th place. He could have seen Napoli as a demotion, instead, he came to be a protagonist.”

Despite his satisfaction with the result and his side’s growing form, the Italian coach pointed out that Napoli will need reinforcements if they keep up their good form and return to Europe next season.

“Looking at the other teams, how they’ve equipped themselves also in view of the commitments in Europe, and if we were to be good at getting into Europe, you will have to strengthen this squad… The president must know that,” he said.

“Today we have 21 outfield players, and we have done what a team that only plays in the league and the Italian Cup does.”