Twice taking the lead only to be pegged back twice, Inter Milan could only settle for a point against the formidable McTominay.
2025/2026 Serie A
2-2
Match Report:
Scott McTominay struck in the 81st minute to rescue Napoli a point in a top-of-the-table clash at current Serie A leaders Inter Milan.
Defending champions Napoli were set to taste defeat at San Siro when Hakan Çalhanoglu scored from the penalty spot with 17 minutes left.
McTominay had other ideas and added to his first half effort with a close-range volley to keep Antonio Conte's team only four points off pace-setters Inter at the midway point of the league season.
Napoli had dropped to fourth by the time of kickoff after Roma's win over Sassuolo on Saturday and quickly went behind inside nine minutes.
Marcus Thuram raced at the Napoli defence and played through to Federico Dimarco, who rifled into the bottom corner.
It was the perfect start for in-form Inter, without a league loss since November, but McTominay inflicted damage again like he did in the first meeting between the clubs in October.
Leonardo Spinazzola combined with Eljif Elmas and the latter picked out McTominay, who swept home with aplomb.
McTominay went close again soon after before Inter responded and Thuram had an effort saved.
Yann Bisseck squandered another opportunity for the hosts before half time to ensure it remained level at the break.
With Conte's team-talk fresh in the memory, Napoli started the second period strongly -- and Rasmus Hojlund struck the post before Cristian Chivu turned to his bench just beyond the hour mark.
Henrik Mkhitaryan was introduced after 62 minutes and six minutes later won Inter a spot-kick after a foul by Amir Rrahmani.
Conte was incensed and received his marching orders, before Calhanoglu retained his composure to convert from 12 yards.
With Inter 2-1 up and set to open up a seven-point lead to Napoli, Conte reacted with Noa Lang sent on and the substitute had an instant impact.
Matteo Politano's cross looked set to head out for a goal kick until Lang stuck a leg out and team-mate McTominay was quickest to react to rifle home a first-time shot.
Conte and Chivu both made changes after the goal, but it ended 2-2 and Inter remain winless in five against Napoli.
Data Debrief: Three is the magic number for McTominay
Inter are the first side against whom McTominay has now scored in three separate Serie A fixtures.The Scotland midfielder's first goal was Napoli's 3,700th in Serie A, making them the seventh team to reach that figure, along with Juventus, Inter, Milan, Roma, Fiorentina and Lazio.
And following his superb first-time finish, Dimarco has now been directly involved in nine league goals this season (four goals, five assists), the joint-most of any defender in Europe's big five leagues (level with Alex Grimaldo).
Since his return to Inter in the 2021-22 season, the wing-back is also the highest-scoring defender in Serie A with 19 goals, and his team were perhaps unfortunate not to claim all three points here.
Inter finished the game with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.45 from their 13 shots compared to Napoli's 0.74 from their seven attempts.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
5' Highlight from Inter vs Napoli
9' GOAL! Inter 1-0 Napoli (Federico Dimarco)
20' Match Event for Inter vs Napoli
28' GOAL! Inter 1-1 Napoli
31' Highlight from Inter vs Napoli
42' Highlight from Inter vs Napoli
44' Highlight from Inter vs Napoli
45' Match Event for Inter vs Napoli
48' Highlight from Inter vs Napoli
58' Match Event for Inter vs Napoli
60' Match Event for Inter vs Napoli
61' Highlight from Inter vs Napoli
70' Red Card! Sent Off
71' Penalty Goal! Inter 2-1 Napoli
81' GOAL! Inter 2-2 Napoli (Scott McTominay)
83' Match Event for Inter vs Napoli
87' Highlight from Inter vs Napoli
Line-ups
Inter XI: Sommer, Calhanoglu, Zielinski, Dimarco, Barella, Akanji, Thuram, Lautaro, Bastoni, Yann Bisseck, Luis Henrique
Subs: Mkhitaryan, De Vrij, Acerbi, Frattesi, Carlos Augusto, Andy Diouf, Petar Sučić, Ange-Yoan Bonny, Alessandro Calligaris, Pio Esposito, Matteo Cocchi, Alain Taho
Napoli XI: Juan, Spinazzola, Di Lorenzo, Lobotka, Politano, Rrahmani, Vanja Milinković-Savić, Elmas, McTominay, Sam Beukema, Højlund
Subs: Nikita Contini, Meret, Pasquale Mazzocchi, M.Olivera, Buongiorno, Lang, Miguel Gutiérrez, Lorenzo Lucca, Giuseppe Ambrosino, Antonio Vergara, Luca Marianucci