Napoli fell behind early on Sunday when Federico Dimarco struck in the ninth minute following a mistake in midfield. Inter pressed hard, but Conte’s side steadied themselves and grew into the contest.
Their improvement was rewarded in the 26th minute as McTominay arrived first to Matteo Politano’s low cross to score a well-taken equaliser.
Inter pushed again before the break, but Napoli held firm and created chances of their own after the restart, with Rasmus Højlund narrowly missing the target.
The flashpoint arrived in the 73rd minute when Amir Rrahmani conceded a penalty after stepping on Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s foot. Following a VAR review, the spot kick was awarded and Conte reacted angrily, kicking the ball away and confronting the fourth official, which resulted in a red card.
As he left the pitch, reports said Conte repeatedly shouted “shame on you all” down the tunnel.
Hakan Calhanoglu converted the penalty, but Napoli refused to collapse. Just eight minutes later, Noa Lang redirected Politano’s cross, allowing McTominay to score his second equaliser of the night.
Conte did not attend the post-match press conference, leaving assistant Cristian Stellini to speak instead.
“I won’t talk about the penalty,” Stellini said. “The important thing was the reaction. Coming back twice here shows great character.”
Stellini added: “It was not so much about the incident itself, but the disadvantage we had just suffered. The team responded in the right way.”
Napoli made only two substitutions compared to Inter’s five, highlighting their physical strength. The draw reclaimed third place for Napoli, while Inter stayed top, three points clear of AC Milan, after their six-match winning run came to an end.
