Napoli ran into the first league defeat of the season on Wednesday evening. Luciano Spalletti’s team lost 1-0 to Internazionale. This brings an end to fifteen league games in a row without a loss for Napoli. Edin Dzeko was the only goal scorer of the match with a nice header. The lead over number two AC Milan is now five points for Napoli, while Inter rises to fourth place thanks to the victory.
Simone Inzaghi changed his team in three places compared to Inter’s last league match. This is how Romelu Lukaku, Francesco Acerbi and Matteo Darmian started the kick-off. Stefan de Vrij and Denzel Dumfries were sitting on the couch. Spalletti made the same number of changes on the Napoli side. Amir Rrahmani, Matteo Politano and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia returned to the base. The latter was sidelined for a long time due to an injury, but is now fit again.
????????????????! What a header from Dzeko ??
On a pass from Dimarco, the striker nods wonderfully.#ZiggoSport #SerieA #INTNAP pic.twitter.com/icxReXElb5— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) January 4, 2023
The first half hour of the game was entirely for Inter, who had three great chances for the opening goal. Lukaku came across Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret after less than two minutes, while Federico Dimarco completely destroyed a good cross from the Belgian striker from close range sixty seconds later. The best opportunity came to Darmian. Again it was Lukaku with the cross, this time to Dzeko. The Bosnian passed the ball to Darmian, but the defender worked overtime. As a result, the first company’s best opportunity came to nothing. Lukaku had another great chance shortly before the break. Nicolò Barella passed the ball to the striker, but Lukaku also shot over.
Ten minutes after the start of the second half, Inter deservedly took the lead. Dimarco put the ball on the head of Dzeko with a measured cross, who headed in: 1-0. Napoli came into the game better after that goal. Spalletti’s team picked up the pace and started to put more pressure. As a result, Kvaratskhelia had some chances, but the winger was unable to pass André Onana. Spalletti sent everything and everyone forward in the last minutes of the game, but no more goals were scored. Inter will face AC Monza in an away match this Saturday, while Napoli will visit Sampdoria on Sunday evening.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naples | 15 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 41 |
| 2 | AC Milan | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 36 |
| 3 | Juventus | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 34 |
| 4 | Internazionale | 15 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 30 |
| 5 | Lazio | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 30 |
| 6 | AS Roma | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 30 |
| 7 | Atlanta | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 28 |
| 8 | Udinese | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
| 9 | Torino | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | -1 | 22 |
| 10 | Florence | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | -2 | 20 |
| 11 | bologna | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | -6 | 19 |
| 12 | Lecce | 16 | 4 | 6 | 6 | -2 | 18 |
| 13 | Empoli | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | -7 | 17 |
| 14 | Salernitana | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | -6 | 17 |
| 15 | Monza | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | -6 | 17 |
| 16 | Sassuolo | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | -8 | 16 |
| 17 | Spezia | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -12 | 14 |
| 18 | Sampdoria | 16 | 2 | 3 | 11 | -20 | 9 |
| 19 | Cremonese | 16 | 0 | 7 | 9 | -16 | 7 |
| 20 | Hellas Verona | 16 | 1 | 3 | 12 | -17 | 6 |