Conte happy with team response as Napoli put recent setbacks behind

TURIN, Italy : Napoli coach Antonio Conte was pleased to see the team's response to his plea for improvement when Napoli beat Torino in Serie A on Sunday to remain on top of the standings despite dropping some points in recent matches.

Napoli got back to winning ways last weekend with a 1-0 home win over AS Roma, and maintained the momentum at Torino with the same scoreline after suffering a 3-0 home loss against Atalanta followed by a 1-1 draw at Inter Milan earlier in November.

"I have a group of guys who really understand when I ask them to improve. This is the aspect I like the most, beyond the result and the standings," Conte told a press conference.

"We are growing as individuals and as a team...

"Torino are a great team, I was really afraid of this game. I lived in Turin for more than thirty years, I warned the guys, (and got) a mature response."

Torino keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, brilliant throughout the day, dived to keep out a low back-heel shot by Romelu Lukaku that could have opened the scoring for Napoli in the 23rd minute.

The Serbia goalkeeper showed off his reflexes again when he stretched to deny Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's header one minute later, and continued to thwart Napoli's attack after the restart.

"Sometimes you take refuge in the result, today we created but there was a great goalkeeper who prevented us from being more relaxed at the end," added Conte.

Midfielder Scott McTominay eventually found a way past the Torino keeper in the 31st minute when he struck a shot powerfully inside the near post.

"He is a boy who was not a protagonist at (Manchester) United. I knew him well because I frequented the Premier League, he has quality," Conte added.

"We were lucky because he agreed to come in a situation in