Napoli coach Conte pleased overcoming Roma; explains Kvara change

Romelu Lukaku turned out to be the match winner for Napoli.

“Before the match I told the boys not to look at the table, but to focus on ourselves and improve what we are working on. I will maintain that now, because we have to take a series of steps to raise the level.” Conte told Sky Italia.

“I was satisfied with the performance for more than 65 minutes today. We could have taken more of our chances and faced a strong Roma with great players. We had to be more careful with set play because it allowed them to hit the crossbar.

“Roma also made his debut under a new coach and therefore really wanted to prove himself. But still, we should have handled the last fifteen to twenty minutes better because we were too deep and made things complicated for ourselves.”

Conte also discussed Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's visible frustration when he was sent off in the second half.

“I think his first half was one of the best since I've been at Napoli. He returned from international duty with some adductor problems so he hasn't trained fully. Khvicha did what he had to do in the first half, but when we scored and I saw that the team needed new legs, and not to risk doing him any muscle damage.

“He is training well, we should all be happy and ready to be part of this journey. I am very pleased with how he played in the first half, he also had scoring opportunities, but we can all continue to work together and slowly improve together.”