Antonio Conte was full of praise for his Napoli side following their bad-tempered win over Lazio on Sunday, claiming that their “application of the plans was exceptional.”

Napoli moved within a point of Serie A leaders AC Milan in the title race with a confident 2-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico, courtesy of a superb first-half display from Matteo Politano.

Politano smartly set up compatriot Leonardo Spinazzola to open the scoring in the 13th minute with a sweet volley, before delivering a dangerous free-kick that Amir Rrahmani headed home in the 32nd minute.

With Napoli dominating by all accounts, tensions began to flare in a frenetic final 15 minutes that saw all three of Tijjani Noslin, Adam Marusic and Pasquale Mazzocchi sent off.

“When you have time to properly prepare for matches, you try to get the most out of your players and look for the areas where you can hurt the opposition,” Conte told DAZN Italia after the match.

“The application was exceptional.

“I have to congratulate the lads, playing with this level of technical ability and physical strength without letting Lazio play is not easy. We played a game of a very high level of quality.

“Maybe we’re lacking a bit of selfishness because we’re creating so much, but I’m really happy given what’s happened to us with all the injuries and absences.

“We’re showing great signs, the victories are coming against great teams who play with quality.

“Now we have to play every three days without much of a chance to rotate. We hope that we don’t have to pay for constantly using the same players.”

Napoli have now won four consecutive games with clean sheets across competitions for the first time this season; the last time they accomplished the feat was between April and May 2025 (also four).

Politano’s impressive efforts.were a large contributing factor, and since joining Napoli in February 2020, the winger (28 goals and 27 assists) is one of only three Italian players to have scored more than 25 goals and provided more than 25 assists in Serie A, alongside Domenico Berardi (62 goals and 41 assists) and Antonio Candreva (28 goals and 31 assists).

When asked about whether Napoli would be active in the winter transfer window, Conte added: “I don’t touch on these topics. Last year I said let’s not do too much, and then we sold Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

“What we need is there for all to see. I have to be the coach and make the most out of what is given to me.

“I know that the demand on me is always very high. Along with the guys, we will try to do our best.”