Scott McTominay's sumptuous assist helps Napoli bounce back but Scotland pal Billy Gilmour gets bit-part role

Scott McTominay played his part as Napoli got back to winning ways in Serie A with a 3-1 triumph away at Udinese.

Antonio Conte’s Gli Azzurri lost 1-0 at home to Lazio last weekend to relinquish top spot in the Italian league to Atalanta and needed a positive response to cement their title credentials in the northern city of Udine.

And despite a poor start at the Stadio Friuli, Napoli recovered with an excellent second-half performance, epitomised by an excellent assist by Scotland midfielder McTominay to set up the equaliser.

Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay helped Napoli win 3-1 at Udinese. | Getty Images

Udinese, who went into the match sitting ninth in Serie A, took the lead on 22 minutes through French attacker Florian Thauvin. He converted a rebound after seeing his penalty initially saved by Alex Meret in the Napoli goal.

Conte’s side responded after the break and levelled on 50 minutes. McTominay was the architect, splitting the Udinese defence open for Romelu Lukaku to run on to and he made no mistake.

Napoli went into the lead on 76 minutes when Lautaro Giannetti scored an own goal, before Frank Anguissa wrapped up the points five minutes later with an accurate finish past Udinese keeper Razvan Sava.

McTominay’s fellow Scotland internationalist Billy Gilmour was once again left out of the starting XI and only came on in the 89th minute, replaced Slobodan Lobotka in the midfield.

Napoli remain in second place, two points behind leaders Atalanta, who recorded a 1-0 win away at Cagliari earlier on Saturday. McTominay and Co next opponents are Genoa in a week’s time at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Lewis Ferguson’s Bologna are in action on Sunday when they host high-flying Fiorentina, while another Scotland player in Che Adams scored a stunning 45-yard winner for Torino on Friday night in their 1-0 win over Empoli.