Napoli cruised to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Cremonese on Friday night, as goals from Scott McTominay, Rasmus Hojlund, Kevin De Bruyne and Alisson Santos propelled Antonio Conte’s side to an important win that all-but guarantees their place in the Champions League next season.
Football Italia’s Man of the Match, however, was Kevin De Bruyne – for his goal, constant creative danger and performance that showed a glimpse of the player we all know he can be.
NAPLES, ITALY – APRIL 24: Scott McTominay of SSC Napoli celebrates after scoring his side first goal during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and US Cremonese at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on April 24, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
Napoli: Milinkovic-Savic 7; Buongiorno 6, Rrahmani 6.5, Gutierrez 6.5; Olivera 6.5 (Beukema 6), De Bruyne 8 (Elmas 6), Lobotka 6 (Gilmour 6.5), McTominay 7.5, Alisson 7.5, Politano 6.5 (Mazzocchi 6); Hojlund 7 (Giovane 6)
Best Napoli player: Kevin De Bruyne – A complete performance from the experienced Belgium. Brilliant assist for McTominay’s opener, a scrappy goal of his own and a constant presence in the midfield, a solid evening.
Lowest Napoli rating: Buongiorno – Tough to pick out a worst but the Italian was probably the least effective part of the Napoli back three tonight. Any danger for Cremonese seemed to be on his side but still a quiet day at the office.
Coach: Antonio Conte 7 – Spoke before the game of his side’s need to ‘get back on track’ and will be more than satisfied that they did that today. He put a strong side out and reaped the rewards with a very competent performance.
Cremonese: Audero 6.5; Terracciano 5, Baschirotto 5, Luperto 5 (Follino 6), Pezzella 5.5; Floriani Mussolini 5.5 (Zerbin 5.5), Bondo 5 (Grassi 5.5), Maleh 5 (Barbieri N/A), Payero 5; Okerere 5 (Vandeputte 5.5), Bonazzoli 5.5
Best Cremonese player: Emil Audero – Could he have done better for some of Napoli’s long range attempts? Probably. But he was a very busy man this evening and not only saved McTominay’s penalty but also made a handful of other big interventions to prevent the scoreline from getting too embarrassing.
Lowest Cremonese rating: Maleh – Real horror show from the central midfielder this evening who was beaten far too easily, far too often, losing possession and offering nothing in the way of attacking threat.
Coach: Marco Giampaolo 5.5 – Was never going to be easy, and the early goal certainly didn’t help. The coach made some in-game tweaks that served to weather the storm but can’t pin too much blame on him tonight.