Conte: Napoli need to focus on improvement, not Serie A lead - Soccer News

[ad_1] Napoli ought to pay little consideration to their place on the prime of Serie A, so says Antonio Conte, who has demanded enchancment from his staff.

Romelu Lukaku’s second-half purpose handed Napoli a 1-0 win over Roma on Sunday.

That victory despatched Napoli again to the summit of Serie A, with Conte’s aspect one level forward of Atalanta, Inter, Fiorentina and Lazio, whereas Juventus are solely 4 factors again in a six-team title race.

Napoli wanted to get again to successful methods after a draw towards Inter and a 3-0 loss to Atalanta earlier than the worldwide break, and Conte insists his staff should sharpen up.

“Earlier than the match, I advised the lads not to take a look at the desk, however to give attention to ourselves and bettering what we're engaged on,” Conte advised Sky Sport Italia.

“I preserve that now too as a result of we have to take a sequence of steps to boost the extent.

“I used to be glad with the efficiency for 65 minutes right this moment, we might’ve taken extra of our possibilities and have been up towards a powerful Roma who've nice gamers.

“Roma have been additionally making their debut below a brand new coach and subsequently have been very desirous to show themselves, however we nonetheless ought to’ve handled the ultimate 15-20 minutes higher, as we sat too deep and made it difficult for ourselves.”

Full time: #NapoliRoma 1-0

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— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) November 24, 2024

Roma, enjoying below new boss Claudio Ranieri, got here near equalising when Artem Dovbyk hit the woodwork with a header.

Ranieri got here out of retirement to take cost of Roma following Ivan Juric’s dismissal earlier in November, although the guests had simply six photographs and accrued solely 0.6 anticipated objectives (xG) at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

“If we glance again, we have now some issues and that's the reason I used to be referred to as. We have been up towards a staff that's combating to win the Scudetto,” Ranieri advised Sky Sport Italia.

“Having mentioned all of that, I'm proud of the efficiency from my gamers. We made some errors that we'll discuss through the week, however the starvation, the dedication to get again on observe was there.

“We've got a whole lot of work to do, however I really feel constructive.

“We all know there's work to be carried out, we have now to give attention to reacting moderately than sitting there feeling sorry for ourselves.

“The [players] want the best character to assist themselves after which others. Naturally, after I arrived, the staff was somewhat closed up, however I believe we began to open up a bit by the second half.”