McTominay meets Conte's demand and lifts Napoli level with Serie A leader Inter

ROME (AP) — A few weeks ago when Napoli was struggling for goals and its title hopes were fading, coach Antonio Conte told Scott McTominay the team needed more from the midfielder.

The Scotland international got the message.

McTominay’s late header secured a 1-0 win at last-placed Monza on Saturday to pull Napoli level with Serie A leader Inter Milan. It was his third goal in two games.

McTominay evaded his marker to redirect a cross from Giacomo Raspadori in the 72nd minute for his 10th goal across all competitions for Napoli this season.

“We just have to keep doing our job, keep winning. At the business end of the season that’s what you got to do,” McTominay said. “It’s getting that level every game. We have a coach who is very, very demanding who expects that from us every game. So for us it’s about pressuring Inter Milan and seeing where that gets us.”

Napoli struggled for long periods and Matteo Politano failed to finish off a big chance moments before McTominay's score.

“These are games that look easy on paper but there’s so much on the line that the pressure is enormous,” Conte said.

Napoli’s win places pressure on Inter ahead of its visit to in-form Bologna on Sunday.

“It’s unexpected and extraordinary,” Conte said of being in the title race with Inter. “We want to keep bothering them.”

Five rounds remain after this weekend.

“We know we have to be at a higher level than this for the last five games," McTominay said. "But at the end of the day it comes down to if you win.”

McTominay joined Napoli in August in a 30.5 million euros ($35 million) transfer from Manchester United, where he had been since the age of five, and at 1.93 meters (6-foot-4) he has made a big impact in the Italian league with his aerial prowess and physical presence.

McTominay also scored twice last Monday in a 3-0 win over Empoli to end a run of more than two months without a goal for Napoli — including when the Partenopei failed to win a game throughout February.

“He’s helping us a lot. He’s a great player. But we knew that," Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. "What maybe we didn’t know was what type of impact he would make right away. We’re enjoying it. He’s an extraordinary kid.”

Raspadori energized Napoli when he went on in the second half and also provided the through ball for Politano's chance.

Napoli is chasing its second Serie A title in three years after finishing 10th last season.

Roma's unbeaten streak reached 17 matches and stretched past four months after beating visiting Hellas Verona 1-0.

Eldor Shomurodov scored four minutes in at the Stadio Olimpico, finishing off from close range following strong work from Matias Soule’.

Earlier, 13th-placed Como won at relegation-threatened Lecce 3-0 for its third straight victory — virtually assuring Cesc Fabregas’ team of a second consecutive season in the top flight for the first time since the 1980s.

Argentina talent Nico Paz led the way again by setting up Como’s opener for Assane Diao. Edoardo Goldaniga doubled the advantage with a header and Diao added another in stoppage time.

Lecce remained two points above the drop zone.

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Roma's Eldor Shomurodov celebrates scoring during the Serie A soccer match between Roma and Hellas Verona at the Rome's Olympic stadium, Italy, Saturday April 19, 2025. (Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP)

Lecce's Ylber Ramadani, right, and Como's Nico Paz challenge for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between Lecce and Como 1907 at the Via del Mare Stadium in Lecce, Italy, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Giovanni Evangelista/LaPresse via AP)

Como's head coach Cesc Fabregas gestures during the Serie A soccer match between Lecce and Como 1907 at the Via del Mare Stadium in Lecce, Italy, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Giovanni Evangelista/LaPresse via AP)

Como's Assane Diao celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between Lecce and Como 1907 at the Via del Mare Stadium in Lecce, Italy, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Giovanni Evangelista/LaPresse via AP)

Napoli's Romelu Lukaku gestures, during the Serie A soccer match between Monza and Napoli at U-Power Stadium in Monza, Italy, Saturday April 19, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Napoli's Scott McTominay, right, and Monza's Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro in action during the Serie A soccer match between Monza and Napoli at U-Power Stadium in Monza, Italy, Saturday April 19, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Napoli's Scott McTominay scores during the Serie A soccer match between Monza and Napoli at U-Power Stadium in Monza, Italy, Saturday April 19, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)