How the Serie A Scots fared over the weekend as McTominay talks begin
Billy Gilmour handed Scotland head coach Steve Clarke a welcome boost ahead of the March internationals by making his Napoli comeback in the 2-2 draw with Roma on Sunday.
The midfielder has been out of action for three-and-a-half months since undergoing surgery on a groin issue in November that caused him to miss Scotland’s historic qualification for their first World Cup in 28 years.
He was named on the bench for the Serie A clash with Roma and made his long-awaited return to action as a 79th minute replacement for Eljif Elmas with Napoli trailing 2-1 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Within three minutes, Gilmour had played a key role in helping create Napoli’s equaliser with an incisive pass to Rasmus Hojlund starting a move which ended with Alisson Santos blasting home to secure a point.
The result keeps Napoli in third place and on course for a Champions League spot with their hopes of retaining their title looking bleak after Inter extended their lead at the top of the table to 11 points with a 3-2 win over Juventus on Saturday.
Napoli were without Scottish talisman Scott McTominay for the second match running amid reports that the club have opened talks with the injured midfielder over extending his contract.
McTominay has enjoyed a fantastic 18 months in Naples since joining from Manchester United in a €30.5m deal in the summer of 2024, helping deliver the scudetto in his first season and winning the league’s MVP award in the process.
His current deal expires in 2028 but according to Corriere dello Sport, Napoli want to extend that agreement until the summer of 2030 with McTominay set to be offered improved personal terms after contributing 23 goals and 10 assists across a season and a half.
The 29-year-old was reduced to a watching brief against Roma due to the tendon inflammation that also ruled him out of the midweek Coppa Italia defeat by Como. It is hoped he will be able to return against Atalanta next Sunday.
Elsewhere, Kieron Bowie made his first telling contribution in Serie A by winning a penalty in his second start for Hellas Verona. However, the £7million January signing from Hibs was on the losing side in a 2-1 defeat by Parma that leaves Verona rooted to the bottom of the table, six points from safety.
Verona fell behind after just four minutes at the Stadio Ennio Tardini and, to make matters worse, they were reduced to 10 men with just 11 minutes on the clock when Bowie lost his strike partner Gift Orban to a red card for dissent.
Bowie helped to drag the 10 men back on level terms two minutes before half-time when a sensational touch to control a ball over the top and turn saw him wrestled to the ground by Parma defender Alessandro Circati. A spot-kick was awarded which Abdoui Harroui converted for 1-1.
Bowie thought he had won another penalty when surging into the box early in the second half, but this time the defender managed to get his toes to the ball first.
The Scotland striker was taken off in the 62nd minute and could only watch in despair from the bench as Parma clinched victory in the 92nd minute through a Mateo Pellegrino header.
Lennon Miller made it six starts in seven matches for Udinese but was on the losing side against Josh Doig’s Sassuolo at the Bluenergy Stadium. Udinese led through Oumar Solet’s 10th minute strike and Doig was substituted at half-time before Sassuolo turned things around after the break with two goals in two second half minutes to leave with a 2-1 victory. Miller was replaced on 65 minutes, shortly after the loss of the two goals.
Che Adams also went up against Scotland teammate Lewis Ferguson as Torino hosted Bologna. However, the two players were not on the pitch at the same time with Adams starting only to be taken off at half-time with the game still goalless, while Lewis Ferguson was demoted to the bench before arriving in the 87th minute to help his side see out a 2-1 victory that keeps Bologna in the hunt for a European place.
All of Scotland’s seven Serie A stars will be hoping to be named in the Scotland squad for the World Cup warm-up friendlies against Japan at Hampden on March 28 and Ivory Coast at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on March 31.