Naples resists Inter and keeps its first place – Serie A – J12 – Inter-Napoli (1-1)

Inter 1-1 Napoli

Buts: Çalhanoğlu (43^e) // McTominay (23^e)

Antonio Conte never loses to Inter. The Italian technician led his seventh match against the Milanese giant this Sunday and preserved his invincibility by bringing back a point in Lombardy (1-1). His Napoli were able to turn their backs and resist the reigning Italian champion, who may regret the penalty missed by Hakan Çalhanoğlu.

Hakan, sniper

The start of the match is completely controlled by the Nerazzurrievidenced by the one-way possession of the ball in the first quarter of an hour (75% in favor of Inter). However, the opportunities were slow to appear. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s strike posed no problem for Yann Sommer (15^e), while on the other side of the field, the saving return of Alessandro Buongiorno made it possible to block Benjamin Pavard, in a threatening position (17^e). That devil in Scott McTominay, however, came out of his box to start hostilities on a corner, pushing the ball deep following a deflection from Amir Rrahmani (0-1, 23^e).

Francesco Acerbi then kept Inter alive by preventing Kvara from hitting in front of Sommer (36^e). In the oven and in the mill, the Italian defender continued by forcing Alex Meret to make a decisive save with his foot (40^e). The locals finally reset the counters thanks to Hakan Çalhanoğlu: the sniper pulled the trigger 30 meters from the target and managed to pierce Meret’s gloves (1-1, 43^e). His third goal in his last five starts, valuable to put back the Nerazzurri in the part.

A peno and two poles

Inter stepped up a gear in the second half to take the lead. Attentive to the second ball at the entrance to the area, Federico Dimarco shook the post on his left foot (52^e). The piston with the silver mane tried his luck again, with a half-volley into the area, but Meret this time intervened (68^e). The Interists’ will bore fruit when Denzel Dumfries obtained a penalty by appearing behind the back of Zambo Anguissa, taken by surprise. Unfortunately for them, Çalhanoğlu sent the ball onto the post while Meret had dived on the right side (74^e). Lautaro Martínez did not find the fault in the air either, the Neapolitan goalkeeper opposing his header (83^e). Mission accomplished for Naples, which brings the point back to a draw and once again becomes the sole leader of Serie A. On the other hand, it honks in retrospect, since the Neapolitans are only a small point ahead of the chasing quartet formed by Atalanta, Fiorentina, Inter and Lazio. Did you say suspense?

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Inter (3-5-2) : Sommer – Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni (De Vrij, 89^e) – Dumfries, Barella, Çalhanoglu (Zielinski, 82^e), Mkhitaryan, Dimarco (Darmian, 82^e) – Thuram (Taremi, 82^e), Martínez (Arnautović, 89^e). Coach : Simone Inzaghi.

Napoli (4-3-3) : Meret – Olivera, Buongiorno, Rrahmani, Di Lorenzo – McTominay, Gilmour (Lobotka, 60^e), Anguissa – Kvaratskhelia, Lukaku (Simeone, 77^e), Politano (Ngonge, 84^e). Coach : Antonio Conte.

Inter Napoli prediction: Analysis, odds and prediction of the Serie A match