Sassuolo 0-2 Napoli: McTominay and De Bruyne get champions up and running

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, but their dominance was soon rewarded in the 17th minute.

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.

The Scotland international came close to doubling his and Napoli’s tally before the break, with Politano’s deflected drive striking the post early in the second half.

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.

KDB WITH THE SECOND!

Kevin swings in a free kick which goes over everyone’s head and sneaks inside the far post!#SassuoloNapoli 0-2 pic.twitter.com/Xe1pObkL9h

— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) August 23, 2025

Data Debrief: Manchester’s loss is Napoli’s gain

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).

He also had the joint-most shots in the match (three), alongside McTominay and Politano, while also creating the most chances for his team (three), but Napoli’s standout performer from last season just had to have his say.

McTominay regained possession more times than any of his team-mates (seven), and won the most fouls in the middle of the park (six). He was also successful in eight of his 15 duels, with only Amir Rrahmani (10) winning more.