Inter’s 11-game winning run came to an end in Campania as they played out a 1-1 draw with Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
In an action-packed game, Napoli took the lead through a Samir Handanovic own goal after a mix up between him and Stefan de Vrij. Inter equalised 10 minutes into the second half, as Christian Eriksen fired a wonderful shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Inter should have taken the lead just before the half-hour mark, but it was a case of the chance falling to the wrong player. Matteo Darmian found himself in space in the box, but he chose to play the ball across to Lautaro Martinez rather than shoot. The pass was never really on and Lorenzo Insigne intercepted.
Immediately afterwards, Romelu Lukaku attempted to finish a low and hard cross from Marcelo Brozovic, but could only turn it onto the bar.
Five minutes later, Napoli took the lead against the champions-elect. Insigne made a trademark run to the byline and put in a cross which Handanovic attempted to save. He collided with Stefan de Vrij and the ball rolled into the net. The goal was recorded as a Handanovic own goal.
Straight after the goal, Inter hit the woodwork again. Martinez’s flick from a free-kick was diverted by Lukaku onto the post. The follow up shot was blazed over.
The half ended with Martinez threading an excellent pass through to Nicolo Barella whose heavy touch allowed Alex Meret to smother the chance.
Ten minutes into the second half, Inter were level. The ball broke on the edge of the box after a Kostas Manolas clearance, and Eriksen expertly fired it into the bottom right corner.
The game entered a stalemate, but it was almost broken with 10 minutes to go when Matteo Politano jinked past Inter’s defence in the box and smashed the ball off the bar.
Napoli then thought they had a penalty for a De Vrij tackle on Insigne, but the replays showed it was inch-perfect and the decision was overturned after a brief VAR check.
Despite late Napoli pressure, the game ended 1-1. That leaves Napoli fifth, two points off Juventus who hold the last Champions League spot.
Inter’s run of 11 straight Serie A wins comes to an end but every point is a positive for them now as they wait to end the long wait for the Scudetto.
