Napoli keep Serie A title race open with Inter draw

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Napoli keep Serie A title race open with Inter draw

League leaders Inter Milan have conceded in the 87th minute to draw 1-1 at title rivals Napoli in a much anticipated clash between the Serie A top two.

Simone Inzaghi, whose side remain one point ahead of Napoli (57), was already without first-choice goalkeeper Yann Sommer, defender Matteo Darmian and midfielders Carlos Augusto and Nicola Zalewski coming into Saturday night’s game at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples.

Inter were then forced to take off scorer Federico Dimarco and Hakan Calhanoglu early in the second half, and the manager was asked at a press conference if this had a major bearing on the result which keeps Napoli hot on their heels.

“Definitely. We were already in an emergency, Dimarco and Calhanoglu asked for a substitution after the first half,” Inzaghi said.

“They tried to hold on a little, but they couldn’t run well … the guys did their best against an excellent team that grew a lot in the second half.

“We’ll take the draw. For the equalising goal we could have done better, we will review and analyse.”

Inter conceded seven minutes after Inzaghi replaced defender Alessandro Bastoni. Luckily, this was not another injury worry but a tactical change after Napoli introduced Danish midfielder Philip Billing, who netted the late goal.

Atalanta missed the chance to move closer to the top, their scoreless draw with second from bottom Venezia leaves them third on 55 points, three points behind leaders Inter.

“We are all there, it is an open championship. Lazio and Juventus can also get back into it, but I’m confident,” Inzaghi said.

Juve are fourth on 49 points ahead of hosting lowly Verona on Monday, with Lazio (47) fifth before their visit to eighth-placed AC Milan on Sunday.

Elsewhere, a 38th-minute Florian Thauvin penalty was enough for 10th-placed Udinese to down Parma, who remain 17th.

With Reuters.

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