Once again, Inter concede a goal in the final minutes of the game and fail to leave Napoli with three points in the bag. Billing‘s 87th-minute goal nullifies the advantage the Nerazzurri had for most of the match, thanks to Dimarco‘s spectacular free-kick scored at the 22nd minute. As always, we analyze the match with Five things we learned from Napoli vs Inter.
1 There were lots of negative and angry comments during the game, especially for the overly defensive second half. However, following a draw in Napoli, there is no reason to be angry, though disappointment at the manner of the draw is certainly justified.
2 Drawing some comparisons, the game first appeared to resemble the match against Arsenal, then more the one against Leverkusen. Overall, it was a Champions League-like intensity brought by Napoli, a team that clearly benefits from being able to prepare for a game a week.
3 On the other hand, these are not excuses but facts: their excellent defenders on Lautaro and Thuram were barely seen, then more importantly, two of Inter’s three main sources of play — Calhanoglu and Dimarco — who is creating havoc on the left, got injured. At that point, it’s clear that constructing plays becomes extremely difficult.
4 Bad luck continues to plague the team. Starting with the defense, then the offense, now the wingers: there were two remaining but now Dimarco has also stopped. From that point, Inzaghi has made many experiments but none have really convinced and the direction was lost.
5 Inter remains at the top of the table: Atalanta also drew their match. We will see if Juventus can close the gap in the later game. A win would have been a huge boost for the Nerazzurri and pushed back the need to rely on a wildcard by not winning a game.
