Scott McTominay and Kevin de Bruyne scored as defending champions Napoli beat title rivals Inter Milan and moved to the top of the Serie A table.

The hosts led at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona through De Bruyne's first-half penalty, before McTominay and Frank Anguissa struck to secure Napoli's first win in three games - after a league defeat by Torino and the midweek 6-2 thrashing by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.

But in a setback for Antonio Conte's side, Belgian midfielder De Bruyne - who has four goals in eight games since leaving Manchester City - limped off the pitch soon after scoring.

It was Inter who made the better start as their captain Lautaro Martinez was denied from close range by Napoli goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

But Napoli went ahead through De Bruyne's penalty in the 33rd minute after Henrikh Mkhitaryan fouled Giovanni di Lorenzo inside the box.

It was the final involvement of the evening for both De Bruyne and Mkhitaryan as the former Manchester United midfielder was swiftly taken off by Inter manager Cristian Chivu.

Inter went close to an equaliser in the closing stages as Denzel Dumfries brushed the woodwork with a towering header.

But it was Napoli who doubled their lead nine minutes after the restart when Scotland international McTominay ran on to a long ball from Leonardo Spinazzola and hit a first-time effort past Yann Sommer from the edge of the box.

Hakan Calhanoglu reduced the deficit for the visitors from a penalty after a handball from Alessandro Buongiorno, only for Anguissa to restore Napoli's two-goal advantage within seven minutes.

Napoli's sixth win in eight games saw them dethrone AC Milan from the league's summit with a one-point lead.

McTominay had scored in Napoli's 2-0 win over Cagliari in their final game of the 2024-25 season to guide the club to their fourth Serie A title at the expense of Inter, who finished one point behind.

Roma, who face Sassuolo on Sunday, could match Napoli on 18 points with a win.