Conte and Chivu embroiled in war of words after Napoli beat Inter

Napoli boss Antonio Conte and Inter counterpart Cristian Chivu did not hold back as they took swipes at each other in the wake of Saturday's Serie A contest.

Reigning champions Napoli got back on track with a 3-1 win at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, where tempers threatened to boil over.

Conte was in the thick of it, as he became embroiled in a touchline altercation with Inter duo Denzel Dumfries and Lautaro Martinez.

Inter, meanwhile, were left furious with the decision to award Napoli a penalty, from which Kevin De Bruyne put the hosts ahead, only to injure his hamstring in the process.

Beppe Marotta, Inter's president, addressed the media in place of Chivu after the full-time whistle, complaining about the decision to award a foul for Henrikh Mkhitaryan's challenge on Giovanni Di Lorenzo.

Inter's actions infuriated Conte, who told DAZN: "Inter send Marotta and the directors whenever they get the opportunity, whereas at Napoli I come [to the press].

"A team has to realise why they lost, by doing this they just create alibis for the players and coach. I would not have allowed it.

"Now Marotta is president, but it's not right that he has to come here and make these statements. 

"I say with all due respect for the directors, leave these things to the people who actually participated in the match, because it is diminishing the role of the coach, too. I always stood up for myself."

Inter coach Chivu was not impressed by Conte's comments.

He told reporters afterwards: "The club has the right to do whatever it feels is right. I, as a coach, remain consistent. I will never come here to complain.

"I have a different approach to some others, I am not interested in my reputation, nor at showing how great I am. I am what I am, I try to transmit those values to the players.

"I am trying to change things, even if I do it by myself. As long as I am here, I will try to change the way football is perceived in Italy.

"They are accustomed here to moaning and crying. We need to change things in the right way. I am not interested in what other people think about me."

De Bruyne's penalty opened the scoring midway through the first half, then Napoli went 2-0 up through Scott McTominay in the 54th minute.

Hakan Calhanoglu responded from the penalty spot five minutes later, but Frank Anguissa restored Napoli's two-goal cushion, sending Conte's team back to the top of Serie A.

Asked about his argument with Dumfries and, in particular, Martinez – who he previously coached at Inter – Conte said: "When you play games at this level, these things can happen.

"I just want to remind Inter that I brought the Scudetto back to the club after 10 years, including nine consecutive Juventus titles, and you know what that means to me. I retain very good memories of that experience.

"Lautaro is a very good player. Perhaps I didn't get to know him that well on a personal level. I wish him all the best, that's fine."