Scott McTominay and Napoli unravel in Serie A title race as Arsenal hero engineers demise for ex-Man Utd star

Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay and Napoli are no longer top dogs in Italy after they relinquished their position at the top of Serie A after a surprise 2-1 defeat by Como.

Napoli were temporarily displaced at the summit of the Italian top flight on Saturday night after defending champions Internazionale defeated Genoa 1-0 at the San Siro to move a point above Gli Azzurri in a fascinating title race.

Antonio Conte’s men knew that a win away at Como, who are managed by former Arsenal and Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas, would restore them as league leaders going into next weekend’s top-of-the-table home clash with Inter, but they slipped up at the Stadio Guiseppe Sinigaglia.

Scott McTominay and his Napoli teammates look on after defeat by Como. | Getty Images

Como’s 19-year-old striker Assane Diao was the matchwinner, scoring 13 minutes from full-time to inflict what is only Napoli’s fifth defeat of the season in all competitions. The hosts had taken a seventh-minute lead via an own goal from Amir Rrahmani, only for Napoli to restore parity before the break through Giacomo Raspadori.

Napoli had hoped to go on and win the match after the break, but were unable to get the better of their obdurate hosts. It was a frustrating day for the club’s Scottish contingent, with McTominay booked in the dying stages of the match and his fellow Scotland internationalist Billy Gilmour once again left on the bench.

“It’s definitely a setback that hurts because of the way it came, because on a mental level we showed cracks, just like in the last three games where we always got caught up,” Conte said afterwards. “I think the boys are really giving their best but we need to make a path and give time to grow, not only from a technical [or] tactical point of view but also in terms of mentality.

“We’ve been playing since the beginning of the year with this pressure, which fortunately we brought on ourselves: being there at the top of the table or at least being close. This was absolutely not expected. Now we have to face it in the best way, trying to analyse why in the second half they [Como] had more hunger and desire.”

Como are managed by former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas. | Getty Images

It was Napoli’s first defeat in Serie A since losing on December 8 last year at home to Lazio, although they are now winless in four games and have handed the ascendancy back to Inter. They are now looking over their shoulders too at third-placed Atalanta, who cut the gap between them and Napoli to two points after they thrashed Empoli 5-0 in Tuscany.

Napoli will be desperate to bounce back next Sunday afternoon when they host Inter at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (kick-off 2pm). Atalanta play 24 hours earlier when they host struggling Venezia.

Scottish midfielder Liam Henderson played the full match for the hosts, who are now in the relegation zone following Parma’s surprise 2-0 win over Lewis Ferguson’s Bologna on Saturday.

Earlier in the weekend, a Che Adams-less Torino surprised AC Milan by winning 2-1 at home, while in Serie B, Josh Doig starred as leaders Sassuolo were held 0-0 away at Sampdoria.