Naples to Conte, it's not beautiful but it's concrete: can he think about the championship?

Fourth consecutive victory for Napoli, still by a narrow margin and without excesses, but enough to surpass Milan and temporarily secure second place, six points behind Inter. An unequivocal signal: Antonio Conte's team is there, in the front row in the Champions race, waiting for someone higher up to stumble.

The match quickly tilted in favor of the Azzurri thanks to McTominay, who scored after just over a minute. The action stemmed from a mistake with the feet by Caprile that gifted a corner; in the ensuing scramble in front of the line, between a post and a deflection off the goalkeeper's back, came the decisive touch from the midfielder.

From that moment on, Napoli controlled the game at a slow pace, failing to find the second goal, thus keeping a fearful and confused Cagliari alive, unable to cause any harm. Pisacane in the end tried everything, even relying on the very young: debuts for Trepy and Mendy, as well as Kilicsoy and Raterink, all born between 2005 and 2007.

It wasn't enough: third consecutive defeat, only two points collected since the beginning of February and the standings are becoming heavy. Conte initially opted to do without Anguissa, preferring Gutierrez over Spinazzola on the left flank. After the quick lead, the match dulled: the Neapolitan team sought spaces without finding them.

On the left, some movement from De Bruyne in support of Politano suggested the most promising area, but Napoli limited themselves to collecting corners. Cagliari, cautious out of fear of the Azzurri, sporadically tried with balls behind the defense, especially to trigger Folorunsho, with little effectiveness.

In the 20th minute, the first Sardinian spark: Esposito steals the ball from Olivera and shoots towards the far post, wide. In the 36th minute, the only shot on target in the first half, from Zé Pedro: alert Milinkovic Savic.

In the second half, in the 7th minute, a double chance for Napoli with De Bruyne and Politano, both saved by Caprile. Conte immediately brought on Alisson Santos to add speed and unpredictability, took off Lobotka and lowered McTominay next to Gilmour in midfield. In the 11th minute, a wrong clearance from the rossoblù defense opened up a great chance for Politano: once again decisive Caprile.

At that point Pisacane changes the team's face with real forwards: first Kilicsoy (2005), then Mendy (2007, in his debut), followed by Raterink (2006) and Trepy (2006). The effect is only seen in two scrums in front of Milinkovic Savic, but without producing shots on target. Cagliari now looks with increasing concern at the relegation zone, while Napoli, in its “short snout” version, awaits the responses from the Milan teams.