Scott McTominay has final Napoli message for Kvaratskhelia as he saves Conte from situation that would 'kill a bull'

The Scot was the hero again as he netted against Atalanta

Napoli hero Scott McTominay faced an pre-match interogation on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's departure from the club to Paris Saint-Germain.

But he would put the chat of his former teammate to the back of this mind as he helped Antonio Conte's side keep top spot in Serie A with a thrilling 3-2 win over Atalanta. The Scotland international has taken Italian football by storm after making a £26million summer switch from Manchester United - and got on the scoresheet once again as Napoli kept their six-point lead over Inter at the summit with a victory in Bergamo.

But pre-match the focus wasn't on the Scudetto it was on the departure of Georgia international Kvaratskhelia for the Ligue 1 champions. The clash with Atalanta was the first since the playmaker's £60m move to PSG and McTominay was put on the spot by DAZN about the impact of losing their talisman in the January window.

Diplomatic McTominay responded: "A goodbye to Kvaratskhelia? I am happy to have had Kvara in the team, we are grateful to him for what he has done and we wish him the best, now we focus on our games."

But boss Conte took a less reserved approach - stating that the departure and changes within the club would "kill a bull" nevermind their title tilt. Speaking post-match, the former Chelsea boss said: "The team has above all grown in dealing with difficulties, that is what I want to underline.

“We are facing some situations, both in terms of injuries and most recently the transfer market, situations that would kill a bull, but we are still standing. We don’t complain, we keep working.

"I always say that I have a group of players who are eager to work hard. The improvement of each individual player then allows us to improve collectively too.”

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