The top two sides in the Serie A table, incidentally the two Scudetto winners in the last two seasons, met at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Saturday as Napoli hosted Inter Milan. No winner emerged, with Napoli midfielder Philip Billing striking in the 87th minute to cancel out Inter left-back Federico Dimarco’s 22nd-minute opener.
Teams
Napoli head coach Antonio Conte, who had plenty of success in charge at Inter earlier in his coaching career, intended to rest Frank Anguissa in the match against Como earlier in the week, but the way the game went on prompted him to introduce the Cameroon international. It backfired. Not only did Napoli lose, but Anguissa also picked up a calf injury which ruled him out of this vital clash. Right-back Pasquale Mazzocchi and winger David Neres were unavailable as well.
With Alex Meret in goal, Amir Rrahmani, Giovani Di Lorenzo and Alessandro Buongiorno formed the back line. Stanislav Lobotka anchored the five-man midfield, with Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay in box-to-box roles, and with Matteo Politano and Leonardo Spinazzola wide on the flanks. Romelu Lukaku, another ex-Inter man, paired up with Giacomo Raspadori in attack.
Meanwhile, Inter boss Simone Inzaghi had to cope without first-choice goalkeeper Yann Sommer after the Switzerland international suffered a broken finger. Fullbacks Matteo Darmian (thigh), Nicola Zalewski and Carlos Augusto (both calf) were absent too. The season is over for 19-year-old midfielder Valentin Carboni, who returned from his loan at Olympique Marseille with a torn ACL.
Josep Martinez stood in for Sommer in goal, protected by the back three of Alessandro Bastoni, Francesco Acerbi and Yann Bisseck. Hakan Calhanoglu, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Nicolo Barella formed a very creative midfield, flanked by Dimarco on the left and Denzel Dumfries on the right. Marcus Thuram joined captain Lautaro Martinez up front.
Match recap
The game was rather scrappy in its early stages, with neither side managing to impose their authority over the other and plenty of interruptions as players needed medical treatment. It was, therefore, only fitting for the breakthrough to come from a set-piece moment, and Dimarco’s excellent free-kick left Meret unable to do anything to prevent the ball from hitting the top corner of his goal.
With the deadlock broken, the contest finally livened up and unsurprisingly, it was Napoli who dominated possession, seeking an equalizer.
Lukaku got at the end of a long pass, smashing a first-time shot into the side netting. Quickly after, Raspadori ruined a fantastic chance as his second touch betrayed him, and the fact that his first had taken him past Josep Martinez, as well as that Lukaku was waiting in the middle of the box, counted for nothing. The same two players were involved just before halftime as Raspadori set Lukaku up for a shot from the edge of the box, but Bastoni put in a vital block for Inter to head to the break still in the lead.
Napoli pushed even harder in the second half, which resulted in Conte’s team ending the game with 63% possession and a total of 19 shots, compared to Inter’s six. But more importantly, it brought them the much-desired equalizer late on.
However, it wasn’t easy for the Partenopei, going up against the Nerazzurri who certainly know how to protect a lead. Lobotka’s shot flew over the bar, and McTominay’s effort warmed the palms of Josep Martinez, but a counterattack which forced Meret to leave the box to prevent Dumfries from doubling Inter’s lead served as a reminder of the occasional danger at the other end.
As the contest entered its final stage, it seemed Napoli would suffer a significantly damaging blow for their title aspirations, but then Conte introduced Billing for Gilmour, and the Bournemouth loanee made his mark with just over three minutes left on the clock. Martinez somehow managed to save his initial effort, but Billing was still able to put the rebound into the net and snatch a vital point for his team.
A four-team race?
Obviously, it’s as-you-were between Inter and Napoli in the Serie A standing after this clash. Napoli’s winless February – three draws and one defeat – enabled the Nerazzurri to overtake them at the top, and Inzaghi’s men remain one point ahead in the title race.
Both sides will have been relieved to learn that Atalanta, sitting just two points behind Napoli, failed to beat 19th-placed Venezia at home – a result Gian Piero Gasperini’s team is likely to regret come the end of the season.
But the biggest winners of the round are likely to be Juventus, providing their game against Hellas Verona on Monday ends in a satisfactory way from their point of view. If it does, the Old Lady will come to just three points behind Atalanta, five behind Napoli, and six behind Inter. It’s an opportunity Thiago Motta and his players won’t want to waste, and we could be in for a fantastic final stretch in the race for the Scudetto this season.
