Scott McTominay Serie A title dream still on after helping Napoli to huge win despite misfiring bicycle kick

The Scotland midfielder played the full 90 minutes as the hosts, who were third before kick-off, leapfroged AC Milan into second place in the table and moved to within seven points of leaders Inter Milan.

Napoli were 11 points off the top only three weeks ago but a run of five successive victories, coinciding with Inter dropping points, has allowed them to close the gap. McTominay and his teammates will now hope to make further inroads into Inter's advantage in the seven league matches that remain as they look to defend their scudetto from last season.

McTominay had Napoli fans on the edge of their seat in the first half when he lined up what has become a trademark bicycle kick but he was unable to repeat his Hampden heroics against Denmark last November on this occasion as his effort dropped wide.

A cagey encounter looked to be heading for stalemate until the 79th minute when a swift attack down the left paid dividends for Antonio Conte's side. McTominay had an indirect influence as his presence from a Mathias Olivera cross caused panic in the Milan box and substitute Matteo Politano emerged at the far post to sweep home a crisp left-footed effort.

Scotland teammate Billy Gilmour was restricted to the role of unused substitute, bringing an end to a run of four consecutive appearances in Serie A for the midfielder, which included three starts.

Next up for Napoli is a trip to 13th-placed Parma on Sunday afternoon while Inter take on Como away from home the same day in the evening kick-off. Addressing his team’s title chances, Napoli boss Conte said: “Scudetto? Difficult. Inter is strong and is doing really well. They’re having an extraordinary season. We mustn’t make any mistakes and hope that they do. And multiple times. We have to be realistic…

“Inter is doing something extraordinary and is deservedly at the top. We, however, have won the Supercoppa and are second: we must be satisfied. This season could have been tragic and ended badly with all the injuries and problems we've had…”

Elsewhere, after failing to earn any minutes for Scotland over the international break, Lennon Miller came off the bench for Udinese in the 65th minute of their goalless draw at home to Como on Monday.

The previous day, Lewis Ferguson was red carded for the first time in Italian football after picking up two yellow cards in 30 seconds in the closing stages of Bologna’s 2-1 win at Cremonese. Meanwhile, Che Adams scored the only goal for Torino in their 1-0 win at Pisa.