Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Scott McTominay of SSC Napoli celebrates.Alamy Stock Photo FreeGoing Well Former Man United midfielder grabs brace as Napoli stay in title hunt Romelu Lukaku and Scott McTominay impressed for Antonio Conte’s side. 10.55pm, 14 Apr 2025 Share options ROMELU LUKAKU made sure that Napoli would stay three points behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan with a goal and two assists in Monday’s 3-0 win over struggling Empoli, while former Man United midfielder Scott McTominay also impressed. Belgium striker Lukaku has scored 12 times and set up 10 more in Italy’s top flight this season and has been key to Napoli’s battle with reigning champions Inter for the league title. The 31-year-old has developed his game under coach Antonio Conte and is having as much of an impact with his distribution as he is with his goalscoring, with McTominay being the beneficiary on Monday. McTominay ratted in Napoli’s other two goals, taking his tally to eight in his debut Serie A season after being brilliantly served by Lukaku, who arrived last summer to replace banished star Victor Osimhen, and has surpassed expectations. “Romelu’s obviously a great teammate. He’s very demanding, he demands a lot from all the team, from myself to score more, to create more opportunities for him to score as well,” said McTominay to DAZN. “He’s got two assists and one goal, he’s obviously an amazing player with an incredible career and we’re so happy to have Rom.” Scotland international McTominay drilled home Napoli’s opener from just outside the area in the 18th minute after Lukaku used his strength and control to hold up the ball and slip in the marauding midfielder. Empoli, who sit second-from-bottom and have failed to win in 17 matches, were in the match and dangerous until Lukaku doubled the hosts’ lead in the 56th minute, collecting Mathias Olivera’s pass and smashing in with his left foot. Five minutes later and Lukaku showed a more delicate touch when setting up McTominay for his brace, floating over a perfect inswinging cross which his former Manchester United teammate confidently headed home. McTominay nearly had a hat-trick in the 66th minute when, after again being laid on by Lukaku, he rolled a low shot against the post when one-on-one with Empoli goalkeeper Devis Vasquez. Advertisement Monday’s win keeps the pressure up on Inter who face Bayern Munich in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final and then travel to high-flying Bologna next weekend before facing local rivals AC Milan in the Italian Cup semi-finals. Napoli, meanwhile, have no commitments other than trying to win a second Scudetto in three seasons and face just one team from the top half of the table — 10th placed Torino — between now and the end of the season. Julian Alvarez of Atletico de Madrid celebrates his goal.Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Elsewhere, Julian Alvarez netted two penalties as Atletico Madrid dispatched bottom side Real Valladolid 4-2 on Monday in La Liga. Coach Diego Simeone’s son Giuliano and Alexander Sorloth were also on target as the Rojiblancos moved back within seven points of league leaders Barcelona. Atletico, third, also trail rivals Real Madrid by three points and still hold onto slender hopes of winning the title. “We can’t do anything more than keep moving forward, thinking about what’s to come,” Alvarez told DAZN. Valladolid, without a win in 12 matches, gave Atletico a more uncomfortable evening than they would have imagined or hoped for. The visitors took the lead through a Mamadou Sylla penalty after Clement Lenglet handled a corner kick as he went to head it clear. However, the hosts were quickly level with a penalty of their own after Javi Sanchez fouled Simeone. Alvarez, who controversially had a penalty ruled out for supposedly touching the ball twice against Real Madrid as his team were knocked out of the Champions League, stroked it down the middle. Two minutes later, Simeone sent Atletico ahead, surging inside from the right and blasting home after Pablo Barrios sent a ball over the top for him. Atletico were dominant but could not add to their lead, and Lenglet allowed Valladolid back in with a foul outside his area. Sanchez took the free-kick, and it deflected off Conor Gallagher’s shoulder in the wall past the helpless Jan Oblak. Atletico were handed a chance to reclaim the lead when Marcos Llorente turned into the box and was clumsily brought down by Henrique. Alvarez tucked home the game’s third spot kick, sending Andre Ferreira the wrong way. It was his 14th league goal of the season and 26th across all competitions after joining from Manchester City last summer. Sorloth wrapped up Atletico’s win with another goal off the bench, as has been his penchant this season, mopping up after Ferreira saved an Alvarez effort. “We have to rest, and we have a very tough game against Las Palmas (on Saturday),” said Diego Simeone, refusing to be drawn on whether his team were still hopeful of catching up with Barcelona and Real Madrid. His son was equally determined to follow the party line. “We have to keep working, enjoy this win and then think about Las Palmas,” said Giuliano. Defeat leaves Valladolid 14 points from safety with seven games remaining, and their fate will likely be sealed by the end of the month. – © AFP 2025 Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “Former Man United midfielder grabs brace as Napoli stay in title hunt”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “Former Man United midfielder grabs brace as Napoli stay in title hunt”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy before taking part. Leave a Comment Submit a report Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines. Damaging the good reputation of someone, slander, or libel. 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