Antonio Conte believes Napoli delivered a ‘good performance’ in their 0-0 draw against Como, viewing it as ‘another step forward’ in their pursuit of Champions League qualification.
The match mirrored their previous encounter at the Stadio Maradona, ending in a goalless stalemate before Como ultimately triumphed on penalties in the Coppa Italia quarter-final.
While Como had key chances, including an Amir Rrahmani goal-line clearance and a Vanja Milinkovic-Savic save, Napoli also threatened late on with Matteo Politano hitting the woodwork and Scott McTominay narrowly missing the target on a counter-attack.
Conte pleased with Napoli stalemate
Conte acknowledged the significance of the result, stating to DAZN Italia, “It was certainly a good performance, as without that you don’t emerge unscathed from a game where both Napoli and Como had a lot at stake. Como probably had more at stake with Champions League qualification.”
He noted, “We were a little too timid in the first half and didn’t put the right pressure on. Let us not forget they have a goalkeeper who makes it very difficult, because with the slightest wrong movement, he can get away and then force you to sprint back to cover the space.”
The Napoli coach observed an improvement in the second half: “We improved in terms of quality after the restart, had chances to score goals, but there are three games to go. We made another step forward, not just for a Champions League place, but also to try and finish as high up the table as possible.”
“The lads did well, we must congratulate them for the performance against a tough opponent,” he added.
Discussing potential counter-attack opportunities, Conte commented on the team’s passing and midfield coordination. “Como created some opportunities when we lost the ball, so we weren’t as clean in our passing, the central midfielders were too stretched out and not close enough to each other. The playmakers need to be more co-ordinated,” he explained.
“We lost the ball stupidly a couple of times and that created some tension. We improved a lot after the break, with two big scoring opportunities, but even in the first we had some situations with Hojlund where we could’ve made better choices.”
Regarding Kevin De Bruyne’s performance, Conte stated, “De Bruyne is in the same condition he was last week, not much has changed in seven days. He had done very well against Cremonese and scored a goal, but some games you can do better than others, he played his part today. I decided to bring on Anguissa and move McTominay into a more advanced role.”
This draw solidifies Napoli’s position in second place, while Inter can secure the Scudetto the following evening with a point against Parma.