Scott McTominay's early goal secured Napoli a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Cagliari to move them up to second in Serie A.

Antonio Conte's side held on after a second-minute goal, leapfrogging AC Milan in the table ahead of the rest of the weekend's games.

The winning goal came from a scruffy goalmouth scramble as Matteo Politano's whipped cross was pounced on by Alessandro Buongiorno, who saw his shot saved, before McTominay turned in on the second attempt after hitting the post from point-blank range.

Politano then saw a shot of his own tipped around the post before Napoli gifted Cagliari an opening, with Sebastiano Esposito drilling an effort wide of the target.

Napoli continued to link up neatly, with the likes of McTominay, Billy Gilmour and Kevin De Bruyne all getting into good positions without causing Elia Caprile any real issues.

De Bruyne and Politano both had shots pushed away by the Cagliari goalkeeper, while Gianluca Gaetano fizzed a shot wide after a lovely flowing team move at the other end.

But Cagliari almost snatched an equaliser at the death as Yerry Mina squared a low ball across the face of goal, but Leonardo Spinnazzola got there ahead of Yael Trepy on the line to clear the danger.

Data Debrief: McTominay continues to soar

McTominay made his return to the Napoli starting line-up and proved the difference once again in a tight encounter.

He has now scored 19 goals in 59 Serie A appearances for Napoli, equalling his Premier League tally for Manchester United, which he achieved in three times as many games (178).

McTominay also finished with a game-high seven shots, 1.21 expected goals (xG) and nine touches in the opposition box.

Napoli are now unbeaten in their last 15 Serie A away matches against Cagliari (W10 D5), though the hosts did not truly trouble Vanja Milinkovic-Savic as they failed to get any of their seven shots on target.