In-form Napoli edge past Cagliari to move within six points of Serie A leaders Inter

Cagliari faced a disastrous beginning at home, conceding early in just the first 90 seconds amid a chaotic series of mishaps.

Goalkeeper Elia Caprile lost the ball to Rasmus Hojlund, leading to an easy corner that was taken quickly and curled into the far post area, sparking a wild tussle where the ball bounced off the upright and landed perfectly for Scott McTominay to tap in from mere inches away.

Things nearly worsened for Cagliari moments later as Matteo Politano carved out room to fire a strike at the near corner, yet Caprile managed to tip it away for safety.

After that promising opening, Napoli started to lose their rhythm around the halfway mark of the first half, lacking smoothness in their forward moves, though Vanja Milinkovic-Savic faced no real threats since Cagliari failed to register a single effort on goal before the break.

Napoli kept pressing after the interval and nearly added a second on the 55-minute mark when Politano broke free behind the defence, but his low shot went directly at Caprile, who blocked it comfortably.

As time wore on, Cagliari introduced substitutes to ignite their offence, but frequent interruptions disrupted any chance of gaining traction.

Aiming for a fifth consecutive victory in this matchup, Napoli controlled the closing stages with ease, as Cagliari never managed a single shot on target throughout the match.

This outcome propels Napoli up to second place, trailing Inter Milan by six points, despite having completed an extra fixture.

Cagliari's streak of seven matches without a win puts them at risk of entering the relegation scrap, with Fabio Pisacane's team potentially just three points above the drop zone depending on other results this round.