November 21, (THEWILL) – Inter Milan beat Napoli 3-2 at the San Siro to narrow the gap at the top of the Serie A table despite the best efforts of Victor Osimhen and his teammates to find a leveller.
After AC Milan’s loss to Fiorentina the day before, both teams understood that a win this evening could have huge ramifications. Inter were looking to close the deficit on joint leaders AC and Napoli to five points, while Napoli knew a win would open a three-point lead at the top.
Napoli took the lead after 17 minutes as Piotr Zielinski closed down Nicol Barella to initiate a rapid counterattack. Lorenzo Insigne then played in the Polish international, who made no mistake shooting past Samir Handanovic from the edge of the box.
Inter, on the other hand, reacted fast and won a penalty after Kalidou Koulibaly touched the ball inside the box less than 10 minutes later. Hakan Calhanoglu stepped forward and sent David Ospina in the wrong direction.
Ivan Perisic got his head on the end of a brilliant near-post corner move just before halftime to give the hosts the lead.
The intensity of the game slowed in the second half as Napoli looked for an equaliser, and they came close on several occasions. Osimhen took a tumble in the Inter box two minutes into the restart but referee Paola Valeri waved for play to continue.
Unfortunately for Napoli, Osimhen had a nasty clash of heads with Milan Skriniar in the 50th minute that left him on the turf for a while longer than the Milan man even though both required treatment. The Nigerian finally got to his feet without assistance but was substituted as a cautionary measure.
Inter hit them on the counter, with Joaquin Correa carrying the ball almost the whole length of the pitch before playing in Lautaro Martnez, who placed his shot into the far corner of the net.
As the game appeared to be beyond the visitors, Inter substitute Dries Mertens scored a magnificent goal from 25 yards out, but it was not enough as Inter held on to take the victory and all three points.
It meant that the last two unbeaten teams in Serie A have lost in the space of two days. A well-drilled Inter side proven resilient enough to blast the league wide open. In reality, the hosts were fortunate at times, but their clinical nature in front of goal was all they needed to deny a Napoli side that had only conceded four goals coming into the game.
Inter’s next match is in the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk, followed by a trip to Venezia. In the Europa League, Napoli will face Spartak Moscow before returning to league action against Lazio.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
