NAPOLI, the club Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen is contracted to, sealed the Serie A title on Friday night after defeating Cagliari 2-0 to hold off Inter Milan and win the Italian championship for the fourth time.
Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku netted at a packed and wild Stadio Diego Armando Maradona as Napoli secured their second league crown in three seasons on the final day of the season.
Napoli finished the season a point ahead of closest rivals Inter Milan who won 2-0 at Como, the outgoing champions’ opponents having to play half the match with 10 men after goalkeeper Pepe Reina was sent off just before half-time of his last ever match.
Inter’s win meant nothing as another Scudetto party was kicked off in Naples by the fans’ new heroes McTominay and Lukaku.
Scotland midfielder McTominay’s 12th goal of his first Serie A season, three minutes before half-time, was a fitting way for Napoli to break the deadlock as he has been the symbol of the team’s renewal under coach Antonio Conte.
McTominay signed with the season already underway in August and immediately made an impact on a team still reeling from a dreadful defence of the 2023 league title.
His acrobatic volley from Matteo Politano’s cross broke the ice in a tense stadium, as supporters watched a clutch of good chances come and go while Inter took the lead through Stefan de Vrij in the 21st minute in Como and briefly moved top of the division.
And Lukaku made sure that Napoli would secure title glory five minutes after the break when he collected Amir Rrahmani’s long pass and held off Yerry Mina before ramming home the goal which sealed the deal.
Joaquin Correa doubled Inter’s lead just as Lukaku scored, cutting inside Ivan Smolcic before confidently sliding home his second goal of the season.
But Inter now turn their attentions to the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain in Munich, where Simone Inzaghi’s team will try to win club football’s biggest prize after conceding the Scudetto to Napoli.
Twelve points lost from winning positions played their part in Inter losing the title and the second-string team sent out at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia suggested that Inzaghi was already thinking ahead to next weekend.
Inter had been gunning to repeat the treble won under Jose Mourinho in 2010 earlier in the season but the UEFA Champions League is now their only chance for a trophy from a long, and draining campaign which they could end with nothing.
AFP