Antonio Conte refuted suggestions of acrimony behind the scenes at Napoli after they defeated Atalanta 3-1 to return to the top of Serie A on Saturday.

The Partenopei reclaimed top spot – at least temporarily, ahead of Inter's meeting with AC Milan – with a deserved win at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

David Neres scored twice and Noa Lang was also on target as Napoli went 3-0 up before half-time, the first time they have netted three times in the first half of a Serie A match since February 2024 (versus Sassuolo).

Napoli are now unbeaten in 17 successive home games in Serie A, their longest such run since an 18-match streak between January and November 2021.

Conte's team went into the international break on the back of a 2-0 defeat at Bologna, a result that prompted the former Chelsea and Inter boss to question his team's hunger.

He said, "either I'm not doing a good job or someone isn't listening" after that result, but on Saturday, he assured Sky Sports Italia that his blunt approach was accepted by his players.

"Maybe those who are outside and don't know the rapport I have with the players worry more than I do," Conte said.

"There is a strong rapport, I am very transparent, I don't wear masks, I am very honest with them. I am as you see me. 

"I know many don't like that, but I was always taught that honesty is essential. It's right that the media do their talking, while we must continue working.

"We are satisfied with the victory and the way we achieved it, with a first half where we kept a high tempo, but we also maintained the high press after the break, and it was inevitable a team losing 3-0 would pour forward.

"We could have had more control of the ball in the second half, but it's fine, we beat a very strong Atalanta side."

Atalanta were playing under new head coach Raffaele Palladino for the first time, with the former Monza and Fiorentina boss replacing Ivan Juric during the international break.

La Dea have just 13 points from 12 games this season, their worst tally at this stage of a Serie A campaign since they finished 17th in 2014-15 (10 on that occasion), but Palladino says they have a solid foundation to build on.

"The second half was very positive, I liked the character of the reaction and that is the Atalanta I want to see," he said. "There are things we need to work on and others we can build on for the future.

"We need to work on the physical aspects too, as the team did a lot of hard work over the last few days, they know that you have to work hard with me. 

"They are like soldiers; they've followed every order I gave and that is a good place to start from."