90PLUS | Lukaku shines, Napoli greets from the top: “We are on the right track”

SSC Napoli defended its lead in Serie A with a home win over Como Calcio. Romelu Lukaku had an outstanding day, becoming the match winner.

SSC Napoli: Conte with praise for Lukaku

On August 18th they lost SSC Napoli their opening game in Serie A at Hellas Verona 0-3. Given the sobering performance, tenth place in the table in the previous season and an early first angry speech from the new coach Antonio Conte (55), it seemed quite realistic that the club would constantly be a powder keg. About a month and a half later, however, the tide turned. They won on Friday The Blues won their home game against Como Calcio 3-1 and thus retained the lead in the table that they had taken over last week.

The path to our fifth win of the season was by no means easy. Because Como proved to be a rebellious opponent and was unimpressed by Scott McTominay (27) making it 1-0 after just 25 seconds. Gabriel Strefezza (27) equalized before the break with a remarkable long-range shot. The difference was ultimately made by the first goal Romelu Lukaku (31). He converted a penalty kick to make it 2-1 and prepared the 3-1 through David Neres (27) with a fine pass.

But Conte doesn’t think his dream player has reached his goal yet: “I always say that Romelu is a player who can always shift the balance, and so today he has certainly improved in terms of his fitness and his participation in the team. He can certainly get better and he has to continue to work seriously.” Lukaku, who scored three goals and four assists in five games this season after his arrival, also sees himself as “on the right track”.

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So there is still room for improvement for the attacker, who SSC Napoli signed for 30 million euros. What heights he under Conte He showed what he can achieve in the 2020/21 season, where he contributed a whopping 24 goals to the Inter-Scudetto. It remains to be seen whether the championship seems possible in the south of Italy in the first year. The coach also stated: “We did our job, because if I had been asked at the beginning of the year to achieve such a result so quickly, it would have been difficult to believe that it was possible.”

After the international break, there are two more solvable tasks with Empoli and Lecce, before the duels with AC Milan, Atalanta, Inter and AS Roma follow within 13 days. After that it will probably be clear whether SSC Napoli can seriously compete for the Scudetto in the first year under Conte.