Serie A: Antonio Conte Bows Out With Victory as Napoli Edge Udinese

Hojlund strikes, Kabasele sent off as Napoli see off Udinese  

Napoli beat Udinese 1-0 thanks to Hojlund, despite further injuries. VAR upgraded Kabasele’s yellow to red as Conte signed off with a win.

Antonio Conte ended his two-year Napoli spell with a win over Udinese. Hojlund’s goal sealed three points despite more injury concerns for the champions...

Antonio Conte ended his time as Napoli coach with a win over 10-man Udinese. Rasmus Hojlund scored the goal, though Napoli suffered more injury problems during the match.

Napoli had already secured a top four finish and Champions League qualification the previous week. That meant they could give Conte a farewell after two seasons in charge, during which he won the Scudetto and Supercoppa Italiana.

Matteo Politano returned from suspension, while Kevin De Bruyne was still recovering from a head injury. Alessandro Buongiorno and Leonardo Spinazzola joined Romelu Lukaku on the absentee list. Udinese were without Hassane Kamara due to a one-match ban, and also missed Nicolò Zaniolo, Jurgen Ekkelenkamp, Juan Arizala and Alessandro Zanoli through injury.

Maduka Okoye made a fingertip save to stop Alisson Santos from scoring within the first 70 seconds, after an assist from Eljif Elmas. The same player then pulled up mid-sprint holding the back of his left thigh and had to leave the game early, with De Bruyne coming on in his place.

Alex Meret got down well to make a great save on Jesper Karlstrom’s half-volley from the edge of the area. Despite that, it was Napoli who took the lead.

De Bruyne played a perfectly weighted pass into Hojlund’s path. Hojlund ran onto it and slid in to finish from eight yards.

Hojlund went down in the box under pressure from Christian Kabasele, but the referee rejected penalty appeals. Stanislav Lobotka also had to go off with what looked like a calf strain.

Kabasele wrestled Hojlund to the ground during a lay-off, and the tussle continued after the ball had gone. The Udinese player then kicked out at his opponent. It was initially a yellow card, but VAR upgraded it to a red.

⏹️ Full time: #NapoliUdinese 1-0

💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/ZK5pxJW5hr

— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) May 24, 2026

Despite being down to 10 men, Udinese nearly equalised through Idrissa Gueye from a corner. His effort was cleared off the line by a desperate defensive block.

Thanks for everything, coach! 💙 pic.twitter.com/Ojka3u96ov

— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) May 25, 2026

Napoli also had a big chance when Hojlund beat two defenders with a neat piece of skill and pulled the ball back from the by-line. McTominay met it six yards out but blazed his shot over the bar.

The result was enough for Napoli to secure second place in the final Serie A table.