Napoli began their Serie A title defence with a 2-0 victory over Sassuolo. Scott McTominay headed the opener from Matteo Politano's cross in the 17th minute. Politano later had a deflected drive that struck the post early in the second half. Kevin De Bruyne scored from a free-kick in the 57th minute to seal the win. Sassuolo were reduced to ten men after Ismael Kone received a second yellow card for a challenge on Lorenzo Lucca. De Bruyne became the oldest outfield player to debut for Napoli since 1994-95 and scored on his debut.
Napoli got their Serie A title defence up and running as Scott McTominay and Kevin De Bruyne led Antonio Conte's side to a 2-0 win over Sassuolo. McTominay, last season's MVP in the top flight, headed Napoli ahead early on before De Bruyne marked his Serie A debut with a goal from a free-kick after the break. Napoli wasted no time getting started, with De Bruyne registering a shot with just 26 seconds on the clock,
Matteo Politano was allowed time on the right-hand side to deliver an inch-perfect cross onto the head of McTominay, who squeezed his effort in at Stefano Turati's near post. But Napoli's second came courtesy of De Bruyne, with his free-kick from the left evading the head of McTominay, but nestled into the bottom-right corner in the 57th minute. Sassuolo's misery was compounded 11 minutes from time when summer signing Ismael Kone was shown a second yellow card for a poor challenge on Lorenzo Lucca.
De Bruyne had already made history before the match, becoming the oldest outfield player to make his debut for Napoli, since 1994-95, at 34 years and 56 days, and his performance on the pitch showed his experience. Indeed, the Belgian became the third midfielder to score on his debut for Napoli in Serie A in the three-points-per-win era (since 1994-95), after Jonathan de Guzman (against Genoa in August 2014) and Francesco Moriero (against Bologna in October 2000).
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