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Antonio Conte's side held on after a second-minute goal, leap-frogging 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.

Conte was thrilled Napoli put a bit of pressure on the teams above it.

It is now two points above AC Milan, while it is six points behind leader Inter Milan, although both teams are yet to play this weekend.

"We've held our own over the last seven months, now we have to qualify for the Champions League, but we know that other teams want that too," Conte said.

"Nobody should stop us from looking ahead. We've put a bit of pressure on the teams at the top.

"Three points further into the Champions League spots, we've been extraordinary over the last seven months to stay in the top positions.

"We're looking at those in front of us, but we're not making any empty promises. It doesn't take much to get dragged back by those behind us."

While Conte was thrilled with the shutout, he believes there are still improvements to be made.

"We made too many mistakes. We could have done better and commanded the game more, given that Cagliari didn't come to press," he added.

"We looked for the second goal in the second half. Anything can happen in these sorts of games. Now we go into the [international] break with three points, waiting on the others.

"It's important to record a clean sheet after 11 games. Cagliari didn't have a shot on goal. Being able to defend well requires everyone.

"There was great application and desire. The guys understood the importance of the match, even if we struggled to materialise that."