Antonio Conte on Napoli’s 1-0 win over Roma: “We dominated”

Serie A giants Napoli picked up a 1-0 win over Roma and kept their place at the top of the league table.

The Partenopei were Claudio Ranieri’s first challenge as Roma manager, as the Giallorossi returned to a back four under the Italian after playing in a back three for weeks under Ivan Juric.

A Romelu Lukaku goal in the second half proved enough for the Partenopei, as Roma stayed at 12th in the Serie A and continue to struggle.

After the game, Conte spoke to DAZN, as relayed by TMW, and he spoke about the game and how Napoli dominated the tie.

He said: “Napoli in midfield is very physical and you have to respect some requirements of the quality of the players you train. We are working hard, from all points of view. We take great care of the offensive aspect and today the team satisfied me. We dominated and created important situations.”

“There is growth in the self-esteem of the individuals, today Romelu scored and the forwards need it. I try every day to do a job with all the changes to make them express themselves at their best.”

He was also asked about Scott McTominay’s performance and Conte was a bit critical about the midfielder’s showing in the first half.

“Scott struggled a bit in the first half for me, he couldn’t find the right measures to get in. I’m also trying Raspadori in that position, who can raise the quality of the game. The substitutes are ready with great enthusiasm. Teams like Inter and Atalanta are important structures: Inter won the Scudetto hands down and Atalanta the Europa League against the German champions.”

Speaking of the game further, Conte said: “I liked the team for 70/75 minutes, we dominated and could have been more aggressive. In the last 15 minutes there was a bit of apprehension, Roma has a strong team and I don’t want to name who plays and who came on. It was a match we wanted to win and we did it in the right way, also putting on a good show in my opinion.”

Napoli have now lost only two games in the Serie A and they more recently lost to Atalanta, who are only one point behind the Partenopei while having played the same number of games.

Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN