Inter Milan 1-0 Napoli
Inter Milan held on to second place in Serie A tonight after beating Napoli, thanks to a second half penalty converted by Romelu Lukaku.
Just a single point separated these two giants of the Italian game and now having fallen four behind, Napoli can feel a little hard done to after dominating for long periods and losing their captain Lorenzo Insigne to a red card.
However, their three match winning run is over while Inter keep up the heat on leaders AC Milan.
According to the latest Serie A 2020 betting odds, both these teams are in with a decent shout of winning the Scudetto as part of a foursome of title contenders, along with AC Milan and reigning champions Juventus.
And while it hasn’t taken either out of the equation, this was a big win for Inter.
Highlights of the game
Hirving Lozano scored at the weekend to drag Napoli back into their game against Sampdoria as the Azzurri went on to record a third successive league victory, and he was the first to show tonight with a shot which flashed past the right post.
But Napoli suffered a blow early on when Dries Mertens was injured and he had to be replaced by Andrea Petagna.
Inter’s Lautaro Martinez had a good opportunity when Nicola Barella found him in space in the centre of the penalty area but his shot narrowly missed.
Then Petagna quickly got into the action having a close range shot blocked and then teeing up a chance for Piotr Zielinski which the Pole hammered just past the left post.
As the game swung from end to end, Lozano got on the end of a long ball from David Ospina but the Inter defence stood firm to block his shot.
Homegrown Napoli hero Lorenzo Insigne has had a tattoo of Diego Maradona on his leg following the passing of the Argentine legend. And the Azzurri skipper must have hoped for some of the Diego magic when he let fly from distance, but he was off target.
In a frantic end to the first half, Inter’s Roberto Gagliardini met a Barella cross and headed towards the top left corner and Ospina tipped over.
Then after more good work from Petagna, Zielinski had a shot blocked and Insigne too was denied by the solid Inter back line.
Insigne began the second half as he’d ended the first, taking a pass from Mario Rui and taking aim from distance but this time his shot flew high and wide.
He then took a pass from Zielinski and forced a save from Samir Handanovic, but it suddenly all went wrong for the Napoli captain and his team.
In three disastrous minutes, Ospina pulled down Matteo Darmian in the penalty area to earn a yellow card and give away a penalty.
Insigne’s protests were too much for the referee and he brandished a red card to send the captain off. And finally, Romelu Lukaku slammed the penalty home to give Inter a lead against the run of play.
The hosts found it easier to play the game out against 10 men while Napoli were left to rue what might have been as Giovani di Lorenzo brought one more save out of Handanovic with few minutes remaining.
Napoli’s last chance came when Petana agonizingly hit the post deep into injury time.
Key statistics
Inter’s trip to Sardinia to face Cagliari at the weekend ended in a 3-1 victory as I Nerazzurri roared back from a half-time deficit with three goals in the last 15 minutes.
They could easily have been behind in the first half tonight as Napoli dominated possession and had eight shots to two, but a combination of well-organised defence and Napoli’s wastefulness in front of goal kept the scores level as Inter had the only first half effort on target.
The pattern continued as Napoli continued to dominate and they ended up with 18 shots to five, and three to two on target. However, it didn’t turn into points.
What’s next?
Next up, Inter are at home to Spezia on Sunday and then they have a tough game away to Hellas Verona, who beat Lazio in Rome for the first time in 36 years last weekend.
Napoli have an away game against Lazio at the weekend and then they host Torino on Wednesday 23rd December, hoping to give their fans an early Christmas present against a side struggling in the bottom three.
We’ll be across all the very latest Serie A 2020 news, highlights, and results in the run up to Christmas so keep it here at SBOTOP for all the best festive football!
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