Antonio Conte praised Napoli's growth and their ability to “deal with difficulties” after Saturday's dramatic win over Atalanta.
The Partenopei sit six points clear at the top of Serie A over second-placed Inter, who have two games in hand, after beating their fellow Scudetto candidates 3-2 at the Gewiss Stadium.
Napoli canceled out Mateo Retegui's earlier effort with goals from Mateo Politano and Scott McTominay to put them 2–1 at half-time.
Ademola Lookman leveled the score for the home side in the 55th minute, but the visitors took all three points when Lukaku headed in Frank Anguissa's cross twelve minutes from time.
Napoli played their first match since the departure of star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Paris Saint-Germain, avenging the 3-0 defeat they suffered against Atalanta in November's reverse fixture.
And after securing a sixth straight win, Conte praised the character of his players.
Full-time: #AtalantaNapoli 2-3
#ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/N1IeC8TKRL
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) January 18, 2025
“I said before the game that this team has grown a lot,” he told reporters during his post-match press conference. “Don't forget that just over two months ago, Atalanta scored three goals on their own field.
I think if we had even more time to go through the process, we would have done even better. The team has mainly grown in dealing with difficulties. That's what I want to underline.
“We are facing a number of situations, both in terms of injuries and, most recently, in the transfer market, situations that would kill a bull, but we are still standing.
“We don't complain, we keep working and I always say that I have a group of players who want to work hard. The improvement of each individual player then allows us to also improve collectively.”
Meanwhile, Atalanta are now without a win in five games in all competitions.
However, coach Gian Piero Gasperini remained optimistic and says his side's busy schedule will ensure heads don't fall.
“I maintain that we will come out of games like this stronger,” he told Sky Sports Italia. “We now have the Champions League, then Serie A and the Coppa Italia.
“We play every three days, so we don't have time to regret a result we don't like.
“It's fine, we have to concentrate on our journey and maybe today we paid a high price. In other games we were more lucky, but overall I saw a great performance.”
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