Scott McTominay drives Napoli to Serie A summit but Man Utd loanee hogs limelight and snaps drought

The defending champions had been knocked off top spot 24 hours earlier after Internazionale’s thumping 4-0 win over Como, but Antonio Conte’s team responded emphatically by winning a gripping home encounter against Juventus.

Manchester United loanee Rasmus Hojlund was the hero for Napoli, with the Denmark internationalist scoring twice to end a mini-goal drought at club level. He had not netted for Napoli since the start of October but bagged his third and fourth goals of the Italian season to down the Turin-based visitors.

Scotland talisman McTominay played the full match for Napoli and impressed in midfield. He missed a very good chance early on by powering a close-range header wide and also sent a second-half free-kick narrowly past the post. However, those moments mattered little as Hojlund rose to the occasion.

Napoli took the lead on seven minutes when the striker slid in to net a fine cross from David Neres from close range. The hosts dominated the rest of the first half thereafter, but were unable to add to their tally.

Juventus were rejuvenated after the break and levelled just before the hour mark when Weston McKennie put Kenan Yildiz in and the 20-year-old Turk slipped the ball past Napoli goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

McKennie was involved in the next goal - but for the wrong reasons. His attempted headed clearance of Neres’ cross fell straight into the path of Hojlund and the 22-year-old fired past Juve goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.

Gilmour has surgery on injury

Juventus pushed for another equaliser, but Napoli held firm and move on to 31 points, one clear of Inter. AC Milan can join Gli Azzurri at the summit on Monday if they win away at Torino.

Napoli are next in action on Wednesday night when they take on Benfica in the Champions League. They then return to Serie A duties when they travel to Udinese on Sunday afternoon.

Conte will be without the services of McTominay’s Scotland teammate Billy Gilmour, who earlier this week had an operation to cure a groin injury. “The start of the road to recovery after successful surgery,” Gilmour posted on his Instagram account on Tuesday, with an image of him in a hospital bed.

“After a period of discomfort pushing through pain, we’ve worked with specialists to find the right time to undergo treatment and put the issue behind me.

“I’ll miss the matchdays and the fans from the middle of the pitch for a little while, but I’m already raring to be back out there and focused on the journey ahead of me.”

A timescale for Gilmour’s return to action has not been disclosed.

Elsewhere in Serie A on Sunday, AS Roma prepared for Thursday’s Europa League match with Celtic by losing 1-0 away at Cagliari. It will be their second trip to Glasgow after beating Rangers 2-0 earlier in the competition.