European football: Scott McTominay double keeps Napoli on Inter’s title trail

Napoli cruised to a 3-0 home win over Empoli on Monday, with Scott McTominay striking twice and Romelu Lukaku also on target as the hosts kept pace with Inter. Antonio Conte’s side were feeling the pressure after Inter’s 3-1 home win against Cagliari on Saturday, but they cut the gap back to three points with six matches to go. Napoli are seven points clear of Atalanta in third as the Serie A title battle narrows to a two-horse race.

It took 18 minutes for Napoli to open the scoring as Lukaku battled free in midfield and passed to McTominay, whose low long-range shot bounced over Devis Vásquez’s outstretched hand and into the corner of the net.

Lukaku added his name to the scoresheet in the 56th minute as the Belgian forward latched on to a perfect through ball inside the area and finished neatly. McTominay completed his double five minutes later, again assisted by Lukaku who whipped a cross in for the unmarked Scot to power home a header off the underside of the bar.

The two players linked up again shortly after as Lukaku played in McTominay on the break, but the Scotland midfielder’s hat-trick opportunity was thwarted by the inside of the post.

“Romelu is a great teammate’, McTominay told DAZN. “He demands a lot from all the team and me to score more goals and create more opportunities for him to score as well,. “He’s a great player. He’s had a great career and we’re so happy to have him.

“We must have fun and think about ourselves. We’re a strong team and must continue with this playing style and attitude.”

Atlético rally to stay in title hunt

Julián Alvarez converted two penalties as Atlético Madrid rallied to beat La Liga’s bottom side, Real Valladolid, 4-2 at a rainy Metropolitano on Monday.

Valladolid look doomed to relegation, but they grabbed a surprise lead after 21 minutes. Mamadou Sylla calmly scoring from a penalty awarded after a VAR review for a handball by Clément Lenglet. Alvarez equalised from the spot after another VAR intervention four minutes later after a foul by Javi Sánchez on Giuliano Simeone.

Simeone turned scorer to put Atlético ahead in the 27th minute, but the visitors drew level in the 56th minute. Sánchez’s free kick took a deflection off Conor Gallagher in the wall, wrongfooting the Atlético goalkeeper, Jan Oblak.

The hosts regained the lead in the 71st minute with another well-taken Alvarez penalty after Henrique fouled Marcos Llorente, before substitute Alexander Sørloth sealed the win with a close-range finish on the rebound.

“These are three important points,” Alvarez told DAZN. “We have to keep going. Think about [Saturday’s game at] Las Palmas, rest and focus. I had a few chances for a hat-trick, but the important thing is that we were able to win. At some points it got complicated, but we pulled it off.”

Third-placed Atlético have 63 points, three behind Real Madrid and seven adrift of the leaders, Barcelona. Valladolid are 14 points from safety with seven games left.