Napoli crowned Serie A champions; Inter miss out
*McTominay and Lukaku secure title for Napoli
*Napoli celebrate fourth Serie A crown
*Manager Conte wins Scudetto with third different team
NAPLES, Italy: Napoli secured the Serie A title in style with a dominant 2-0 home win over Cagliari on Friday thanks to goals from Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku.
Napoli celebrated their second Italian crown in three years - and fourth overall - after a thrilling battle with Inter whose 2-0 win at Como thanks to goals from Stefan de Vrij and Joaquin Correa left them one point adrift of their rivals.
McTominay opened the scoring for Napoli three minutes before the break with a stunning bicycle kick from Matteo Politano's cross, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
Lukaku doubled the lead six minutes after the restart by latching on to a long ball, shrugging off a defender and calmly finishing past Cagliari keeper Alen Sherri.
The rest of the match turned into a celebration at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium as flares and smoke filled the pitch before the final whistle blew and fireworks lit up the Naples sky. For manager Antonio Conte, the victory represented another milestone in his career, securing the Serie A title with a third different club, having previously achieved the feat with Juventus and Inter.
"It happened again, and it's something wonderful. When we got to the stadium, it was honestly difficult to get in, as I don't know how many people were there. I had a slight thought, if we let these people down, it'd be something we carried with us for a long time," he told reporters. Conte was absent from the touchline for the final match due to suspension, but Napoli completed their task.
"All the credit goes to the boys. Winning in Naples is difficult, these boys are doing it for the second time in two years," he said. "They are serious boys, you don't leave in a team that always plays to win."
In front of a buzzing crowd brimming with nerves, Napoli flew out of the blocks as Giacomo Raspadori pounced on a rebound from a corner and drilled a low shot inches wide. Two minutes later, a teasing cross floated just too high for Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa to meet cleanly with a free header much to the chagrin of the home crowd. The chances kept coming as a blistering Napoli counter sent Raspadori through, only for Sherri to deny him smartly before Politano blasted the rebound over.
The Albanian keeper played the party spoiler in most of the first half, pulling off a string of stunning saves that left Napoli's players frustrated. The mood dipped around the 20th minute as word spread that Inter had taken the lead in Como, sapping the energy from the stands and halting Napoli's momentum along with the match's intensity. Once McTominay had worked his magic, however, Napoli never looked back. "It is the well-deserved victory of an extraordinary team and a city that never stops dreaming, fighting and loving," Naples mayor Gaetano Manfredi wrote on X. — Reuters
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