Scott McTominay scores twice for Napoli against Torino, with the former Manchester United man on fire as Antonio Conte’s side head to the top of the Serie A table.
The former Manchester United man struck in the seventh minute to give his side the dream start against Torino, a game of the utmost importance considering Inter Milan’s 1-0 defeat by Roma earlier on Sunday.
McTominay then made it a double in the 41st, scoring his 11th goal of the season four minutes before the break. His goals see Napoli go three points clear of rivals Inter.
Italian press, rightly so, have lauded the Manchester United academy graduate for his valiant performance.
Italian press react to ‘monstrous’ Scott McTominay performance for Napoli against Torino
Italians have fallen in love with McTominay, and after Sunday’s heroics, the love affair has only intensified.
Calcio Napoli 1926 wrote: ‘If there is a man besides Conte who is leading Napoli towards the dream of the Scudetto, it is Scott McTominay, the Scotsman who arrived with many expectations that he is also exceeding by dragging the team with goals and plays as a midfielder of a superior level.
’11 goals in the championship including some decisive ones, substance and quality and an enthusiasm that has made the Neapolitans increasingly crazy fall in love with this big boy who arrived in the summer.’
‘In the second half he seemed to have disappeared a bit from the game, but Scott always senses the best moments to step up to the plate even in the defensive phase by recovering some balls.’
‘Even in the second half of the game he enters the opponent’s area always proposing himself in attack. At the end, an intervention in his penalty area to chase away the danger, simply monstrous.’
Gazzetta called McTominay a ‘genius’ and ‘Maradona’s hero’, which is probably the biggest compliment you can ever get football-wise in the city of Naples.
Meanwhile, Napoli Today called McTominay ‘Napoli’s gold’.
He’s been worth his weight in gold for Napoli – that’s for certain.
McTominay breaks Man Utd legend Denis Law’s Serie A record
McTominay also became the highest-scoring Scotland international in Serie A history, netting 11 goals to surpass Manchester United legend Denis Law’s 10-goal mark set with Torino in the 1961–62 season.
Additionally, he is the first Scottish midfielder to hit double figures in a Big Five league since Charlie Adam scored 12 goals for Blackpool in the 2010–11 campaign.
To think Manchester United sold McTominay for just £25m. With hindsight now in our favour – it looks like Conte got an absolute bargain.
That said, you can’t help but be delighted for him. Long may the Italian dream continue for Scott. Scudetto inbound? Potentially so.
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