Napoli is 2-0 after 40 minutes and Braveheart has both she has.
It's a big game, this. A chance to go free with four to play on the hunt for a fourth scudetto in 98 years. Everyone knows the commitment, and Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, wild and vast and gladiatures in the best time, feels more like an ampithatre than ever.
But Braveheart, just as you would expect, is not someone who goes the great occasion. And while Scott Mctominay scores the second of his two goals, his 10th and 11th for the season, a smile spreads over his face.
McTominay earned the nickname Braveheart shortly after his arrival in Naples last summer. It is the perfect name.
It naturally speaks to its nationality, but also his fearlessness and tenacity on the field. And, just like William Wallace for him, in Italy, often malignant south, McTominay leads a just thing for his oppressed people, a fight against richer and snootier and more powerful neighbors.
Fortunately, unlike Mel Gibson's view on Wallace, Mctominay is the real deal. His brace against Torino on Sunday and the score remained 2-0, that he has five goals from three games since his boss, Antonio Conte, publicly asked him for more of them. McTominay was mentioned after all three matches of the game.
The Torino victory meant Momentum in the Italian title race waved decisively to Naples on a day on which Titlerival Inter Lost at home from Roma. On full-time, the official Napoli account posted a photo of the Scot, radiant and raised with his arm for celebration, next to one of Gibson's Woad-Faced Wallace that hit an identical pose. The four remaining luminaires from Napoli are all against teams in the bottom seven, while Inter has the distraction of a semi -final of the Champions League with Barcelona. A fifth Serie A title for Conte is on the way.
But nobody is more responsible for the success of Napoli this season than McTominay. Since he left Manchester United in a £ 25.7 million last August, he flourished in a more advanced NO8 – Middenveldrol – the role that seemed his best position for a long time, but which he could only fulfill at Old Trafford. It fits his congenital finish, his sense of timing, knowing exactly when to crash the box.
“I was pretty changing (at United),” Mctominay explained in a recent interview with the Athletic. 'My strengths have always come in the box, goals scored, a problem is there. But I was used as a no. 6, or back as a center, and that has never really been my game.
'But if you play for Manchester United and you are 20, you can't knock on the door of the manager and say that you expect to play at number 8 for Paul Pogba. It is not realistic. You have to know your place and do what you are asked. '
McTominay does not do comfort goals. Of the nine Serie A matches he scored this season, he took the opener in seven of them. His strikes came in Vitale 1-0 wins to Torino and Monza, a draw with Inter in San Siro, and Swashbuckling victories in Fiorentina and Atalanta. His habit of making it 1-0 has even delivered him a Soubriquet – Apriibottiglie, the bottle opener.
Napoli has scored 18 goals less than Inter, so it is important to have them count. But Braveheart is the man for the great occasion.
'Scotto', as he is known at the Bellage Stadium broadcaster of Napoli, brings much more than goals. He has won more duels (199) than any other midfielder in the Serie A. He covers more land than any other player in the Serie A. The definition of an All-Action midfielder.
“Mctominay has exceeded expectations,” says supporter Joseph Fischetti, host of the Forza Napoli Podcast. 'In recent weeks he has cemented his position as a player of the season – not only for Napoli, but in the entire Serie A.'
All this makes you wonder why United let him go on earth.
Well, the reality is that they didn't want that. But MCTominay paid the prize for the larges of the decision makers in Old Trafford, supported in a corner about the financial guidelines of the Premier League and needed to sell a home -grown player to balance the books.
It is the same perilous situation that Alejandro Garnacho or Kobbie Mainoo can see this summer. Do not be surprised if they also thrive after an avoidable exit. It seems to be a theme with former United players. But the loss of United has been Napoli's win and they are now firmly in the box chair for the title.
McTominay was helped in Naples due to the presence of colleague Scot Billy Gilmour, who came to Napoli from Brighton last summer. The couple lives close together on the edge of the city and are also inseparable in the dressing room. Mctominay calls the small midfielder 'Maestro', and the Maestro calls McTominay his Fratello brother. 'Che Giocatore' posted Mctominay under one of Gilmour's recent photos on Instagram. What a player.
The duo shares the services of a private chef, Mario Sorrentino. Seafood, especially freshly caught octopus, is often on the menu. There is Polpo Alla Luciana – Octopus stab, a traditional fishing dish – and Zuppa di Cozze – Mussell -Soep, with Octopus tentacles and shrimp piled.
Sorrentino, who places Tiktoks who prepares his meal for Mctominay, has become a small celebrity in itself. Conte – a disciplinary in every respect, and no less when it comes to the diets of his players – is perhaps disappointed to see that Sorrentino is preparing a fried meat tag (Cotoletta) for a recent game with Empoli.
But McTominay scored two in a 3-0 win. “Chef, if you've made him for Empoli Knipletten, I recommend on Friday evening pipes, so Scott will be ready for Monza,” wrote a supporter on Sorrentino's Tiktok. Whatever he served, Mctominay scored a second half winner in Monza-a huge moment in the title race.
McTominay is a self -proclaimed foodie. “The tomatoes here, oh my god. Belissimo, “He recently gushed.
“I never ate them at home. They are just red water. Here they actually taste like tomatoes. Now I eat them like a snack. I eat all vegetables, all fruits. It's all so fresh. It's incredible. '
It may seem like a disposable commentary, but take it from the grandson of a Nonna from Campania – there is no better way to take yourself into an Italian audience.
It also talks about the way in which McTominay has embraced living abroad. He learns Italian with the help of Duolingo and has formal lessons twice a week. His partner, the Model Cam Reading, has thrown himself into life on the continent and placed glamorous snaps from Travel on Positano, Lake Como and Capri. “I fell in love with Italy,” she writes on one.
British players have not always made good tourists, but Mctominay and Gilmour give the romantic poets a run for their money in terms of their respect for the country. “If you can take that step and leave your comfort zone, you start to bloom more as a person and as a player,” McTominay recently reflected.
“McTominay is already loved by Napoli's believers,” adds Fischetti. “He sincerely speaks about his love for the city, which he and his partner cam openly celebrate. From his desire to learn the language to his weakness for Italian food – especially the tomatoes! – For the results he delivers on the field, there is little not to find him. '
Title winners in Naples take a special kind of status. Do you think the Liverpool players who sealed the title last weekend will go in Merseyside Folklore? Forget it. You cannot move in Naples for tribute to their favorite sons.
It comes from it is a city of one club, yes, but still more powerful, from his status as the beating heart of the so -called 'southern problem' of Italy. It is not uncommon for oppositions to 'Napoli Merda, Napolie Colera: Sei La Vergogna dell'italia Intera' (Naples S ***, Naples Cholera; You are the shame of all of Italy).
Mctominay is now only a few weeks away from the new hero of the city – a Maradona, a kvaratskhelia.
That is an elevated company to keep, but that is where the best player is in a Napoli title win you place. Braveheart is worthy of his nickname.