Napoli manager Antonio Conte praised his players’ mentality after the title-chasing team’s latest victory, highlighting how staying focused in key moments was crucial to brushing lowly Empoli aside in Serie A on Monday.
With six matches left, second-placed Napoli showed little sign of fatigue as, led by Romelu Lukaku and Scott McTominay, they capitalised on their dominance with a 3-0 home win against the Tuscany side, having taken a one-goal lead into the break.
The win leaves the Naples side three points behind Inter Milan.
“Today at halftime I told the players to approach the second half as if the game was still 0-0 and to go out and win it. The response was excellent. The performance was a very high level, and I believe the crowd appreciated it too,” Conte said.
There was never any doubt about who was the best team, with McTominay scoring twice as Belgian Lukaku set up both goals for the Scotsman and also found the net himself.
While Conte was pleased with the duo’s performance, he emphasised the result was the product of a team effort.
“Lukaku and McTominay made an impact, but this victory is the result of everyone’s hard work,” he told reporters.
“It is the success of a group that has always responded when called upon, and that is now starting to reap the rewards of their efforts.”
The only dampener on the Napoli performance at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona was Juan Jesus going off in pain, with fellow defender Alessandro Buongiorno having earlier this week been sidelined due to an adductor injury.
“Juan told me he felt a muscular issue and he was not very optimistic,” Conte said. “Tomorrow we’ll see how Buongiorno is doing. He will return to group training and we’ll assess his condition.”
