Ex-Manchester United star Scott McTominay made his presence felt during and after Napoli's draw with Copenhagen, while Rasmus Hojlund came in for criticism
Scott McTominay managed to avoid the ire of the Italian press following Napoli's "unacceptable" draw with Copenhagen. The Champions League future of the Serie A team is in jeopardy after they were held to a draw by the Danish champions, who were down to 10 men after Thomas Delaney was sent off on the 35-minute mark.
Former Manchester United midfielder McTominay quickly put the visitors in the lead with his fourth goal in five matches, but Copenhagen rescued a point thanks to a Jordan Larsson goal with 18 minutes left.
The result was a missed opportunity for Napoli, with much of the team, including United loanees Rasmus Hojlund, facing criticism from the Italian media. However, McTominay was largely seen as the standout player of the match, with both Il Messaggero and Gazzetta awarding him a top-of-the-class 7/10.
Rome-based Il Messaggero described him as "absolutely decisive," adding: "He grew as the minutes went by and broke the deadlock, confirming his key role in the Champions League."
The same publication gave ex-Copenhagen forward Hojlund, who was surprisingly jeered by the home crowd, a score of 5/10 and commented that he "struggles too much."
Meanwhile, Corriere Della Sera noted about Hojlund: "He came close to scoring several times, but as the minutes passed, he grew nervous."
Viewers also made their opinions known, with McTominay being voted player of the match on the Eurosport website with 59 per cent of the vote. This would have been little consolation to the 29-year-old, who didn't mince words about the performance.
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, he expressed his frustration, saying: "We should have won that game, it's unacceptable. We should have scored the second and third goals to close out the game, even if it was a difficult surface. It's really disappointing that we didn't.
"We've had a lot of injuries, but we've still tried to improve game by game. The subs have come on and done well, but we have to do even better."
The stalemate left Antonio Conte's side languishing in 23rd place in the 36-team table, with Wednesday's fixtures and one more full round of matches remaining before the knockout stage.
Clubs finishing outside the top 24 will be eliminated, meaning Napoli must secure a victory in their final league match against Chelsea next week to guarantee a spot in the play-off round.
McTominay added: "Obviously, this game has just ended and we have to look at the mistakes and try to improve. Chelsea are an excellent team. We have to try and give everything to improve in the Champions League. We have to be at our best."