Scott McTominay was leaving nothing to doubt. He appeared to have scored with a close-range header early in the second half of Napoli’s game at home to Roma, but Pierluigi Gollini clawed the ball out from inside the goal. McTominay got his noggin to the rebound, nudging it back across the line. Roma’s keeper pushed away again, so the Napoli midfielder got to his feet and smashed a shot into the back of the net.
Just typical. You wait two months for your first goal of the Serie A season, then three show up at once. They only counted for one, of course, but McTominay looked happy enough with that as he ran to thank Matteo Politano for the assist.
What a difference it makes to this Napoli team when their Scottish star is fit and firing. McTominay was out of action for all of September, recovering from an ablation procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat – known medically as an arrhythmia. The condition was characterised by the club as mild and benign, and the medical intervention a complete success.
Napoli had struggled in McTominay’s absence. They continued to struggle right after his return, too. His first two starts back in the side came in defeats to Villarreal and Serie A’s last-placed team, Venezia – leaving the Partenopei with five losses from their first nine games in all competitions. The latter result prompted speculation about whether Massimiliano Allegri’s job as manager could soon be at risk.
A week later, McTominay is starting to change the narrative. His two goals in midweek helped Napoli to their first Champions League win of the season, 4-3 against Bodø/Glimt. On Saturday, he broke his Serie A duck and did everything in his power to deliver another win over undefeated Roma.
McTominay’s three-strikes-in-one had made it 2-0 in the 48th minute, building on Frank Anguissa’s glorious overhead opener. Perhaps McTominay’s willingness to attempt the audacious has been rubbing off on his Napoli teammates too, though the Cameroon international was a title-winner and essential figure before the Scot arrived in 2024.
They could have been further ahead on Saturday. Mathías Olivera had a point-blank effort hacked off the line when the score was 1-0 before half-time. Then again, Bryan Cristante hit the post for Roma moments later.
McTominay’s goal appeared to put Napoli fully in control, until Matías Soulé swapped a one-two with Donyell Malen and picked out the bottom corner brilliantly from outside the box. That was the 69th minute, and Roma were level by the 74th, their centre-back Leonardo Balerdi crashing home from a corner.
And so McTominay answered again, with a wicked finish of his own from almost 30 yards. He matched Soulé’s precision after Roma had failed to clear their lines from a Leonardo Spinazzola attempt, tucking his shot inside the near post.
Against lesser opponents, that might have been the end of it. But Roma are not easily beaten under Gian Piero Gasperini. In the 89th minute, Wesley crossed and Balerdi arrived to head home another equaliser.
It finished 3-3, a marvellously entertaining game, with so many stories to tell. On the Roma side, this felt like a big night for Soulé, the 23-year-old Argenta forward delivering one of the statement performances of his Serie A career to date in a stadium named after Diego Maradona.
Signed from Frosinone in the summer of 2024, Soulé has shown glimpses of immense potential but struggled for consistency, leading to questions about whether he can truly become more than Paulo Dybala’s understudy. But this season, and in the last month especially – which began with a first senior appearance for Argenta, then two assists in a heart-breaking Champions League defeat to Real Madrid – he is stepping ever more confidently from his compatriot’s shadow.
“He’s in his prime, he’s the driving force of this team,” said Gasperini at full-time. “[Donyell] Malen didn’t have a great game, and [Soulé] carried the team. His goal was something crazy; the foot and leg speed reminds you of something [Leo] Messi would do.”
And then there is Balerdi, also Argentinian, on loan from Marseille with an option to buy. Gasperini noted how one of Roma’s strategies in the transfer market had been to target players perceived as leaders for their previous clubs. He named Marten de Roon in this category, too, and it was the Dutchman, wearing the captain’s armband, who put in the cross that led to Balerdi’s first goal.
Unsurprisingly, given how the match unfolded, Gasperini seemed content with the draw. Allegri rather less so. He was sent off after Roma’s third goal and though he claimed not to know why, he was later overheard outside the changing rooms insinuating that the opposition had received favourable treatment from the referee. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported him protesting that: “Last year they handed you [Roma] the Champions League and I paid for it at Milan.”
Without relitigating a year worth of decisions, this was a bold line to take. Milan, who spent almost the entire campaign in the top four and much of it as the closest contender to Inter for the scudetto, contrived to miss out on the Champions League by a single point after collecting only seven from their final eight games.
Allegri cut short an interview on Dazn, saying that he was “for the first time in 25 years, not lucid enough to expand on this game”. Another claim that might raise a few eyebrows, from a man who once got halfway to undressing in frustration at the officiating of a final that his own team won.
Quick Guide
Serie A results
Show
Torino 3-2 Monza, Cagliari 0-2 Bologna, Como 2-0 Sassuolo, Napoli 3-3 Roma, Lazio 2-1 Parma, Inter 2-1 Fiorentina, Atalanta 4-4 Frosinone, Genoa 1-0 Venezia, Lecce 0-2 Juventus, Udinese 0-2 Milan
Perhaps his ire on this occasion would have been better directed at one of his own defenders. During the buildup to Roma’s final goal, Sam Beukema collapsed to the floor after tussling with Balerdi off the ball. A generous reading of the replays would be to say that he “made the most” of some contact, which appeared to be arm-on-arm, though the Napoli player went down clutching his rib cage.
If Beukema had stayed on his feet and continued marking Balerdi, perhaps the equaliser could have been avoided. Instead, he got up too late to do anything about it and then fell back to the floor again after watching the goal go in.
An undignified end to a brilliant game. As frustrated as Napoli might feel at throwing these points away, there were lots of positives here to hang on to. Only a week ago we were asking whether Kevin De Bruyne could be persuaded to occupy the deeper role Allegri sees for him and make space for McTominay further forward. In this game, and the win over Bodø/Glimt, there were positive signs.
Putting three goals past this Roma team – who had only conceded that many in the previous seven games of this Serie A season combined – is no mean feat. Napoli with McTominay are more than capable of improving on their current 10th place in the table and at least competing for a top-four spot.
The challenge is to stay lucid, as McTominay did on his triple goal, sticking at a task until it is completed. And perhaps a little longer to make sure.
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