Inter's title bid hits bump in the road with Napoli draw

Juan Jesus nodded home Napoli's leveller with nine minutes remaining after fighting back from Matteo Darmian's opener shortly before half-time to snatch a deserved point. Leaders Inter still need 14 more points from their remaining nine fixtures to claim the Scudetto after their huge advantage on AC Milan was cut to 14 points with their local rivals winning 3-1 at Verona.

It was another disappointing result for Simone Inzaghi's Inter following a painful exit from the Champions League at the hands of Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, as their league winning streak ended at 10 matches.

"We're disappointed how the match went... We were really good in the first half and at the start of the second and after that we dozed for the goal which cost us the win," said Inzaghi to DAZN. "Napoli had more of the ball but (goalkeeper Yann) Sommer had basically nothing to do."

It was a symbolic fixture for Inter as they are outperforming Napoli's incredible charge to their historic third league crown. Even after Sunday's draw, Inter have more points, have scored more goals and have a significantly better goal difference than Napoli did at the same stage last season.

However, their dream of securing the title with a record-equalling five matches to spare by beating Milan in next month's derby is now less realistic than before kick-off. Napoli were missing Victor Osimhen after the Nigeria forward picked up a hamstring problem in training and put up a brave fight after being dumped out of Europe by Barcelona on Tuesday.

Assuming Italy get five Champions League spots next season, Napoli are six points from a place in Europe's top club competition as Roma, in fifth, beat Sassuolo 1-0 thanks to a goal from Lorenzo Pellegrini. And the Brazilian said he believed that Napoli can reach next season's Champions League despite a non-existent title defence which has left his team in seventh.

"We believe we can do it, there are a lot of points up for grabs and we have home matches with direct rivals Atalanta, Bologna and Roma," added Jesus. "We need to give everything to get into the Champions League."

 

March 17, 2024