Napoli remained behind Serie A pacesetters Inter Milan on Sunday after a 2-1 win over AC Milan to stay three points behind the pace in the Scudetto championship. Antonio Conte’s team were in front with a minute to go on the clock courtesy of Matteo Politano’s powerful low shot, and after Romelu Lukaku chipped in his 400th goal of his career in the 19th minute, the hosts had enough margin to take the three points.
Sunday’s victory was massive for Napoli because only one of their remaining eight league games next week at fourth-placed Bologna is against a team that remains in the top half of the division. In contrast to Inter, who managed to edge Udinese 2-1 in another early Sunday game, Napoli have no Italian Cup or European commitments and can devote themselves solely to attempting to claim their second title in three yers.
“We can only take it one game at a time,” commented Politano. “We believe in ourselves, we have to try to make our fantastic fans happy and then we’ll see where we are at the end of the season.”
Inter Milan’s Late Fightback Falls Short
Inter Milan, who had seen Ruben Loftus-Cheek go out with acute appendicitis, were abject in the opening half, but bringing on Rafael Leao and Santiago Gimenez in the interval lifted them out of their trance.
Gimenez missed from the spot, reducing the difference in the 69th minute, as his low attempt was saved by Alex Meret after Philip Billing brought down Theo Hernandez. Another replacement in Jovic scored from Hernandez’s low cross with six minutes remaining, but Milan remain ninth and nine points behind Champions League spots after leaving it too late to attempt a comeback.
Milan now host Inter in the first leg of their Italian Cup semi-final on Wednesday before Fiorentina come to the San Siro next weekend, with their Champions League hopes in tatters.
“We were too slow to enter the game. The first pass they played forward resulted in their first goal,” Conceicao said. “It wasn’t the first 20 minutes we rehearsed. We sorted some things out in the second half and had lots of opportunities. I think a draw would have been a reasonable outcome.”
Nervy Inter Milan Secure Another Win
Marko Arnautovic and Davide Frattesi goals within the first half an hour were sufficient to deliver Inter their third consecutive victory before this first cup derby against Milan.
But fidgety Inter nearly blew the points as coach Simone Inzaghi made a string of changes late in the second period, and Oumar Solet reduced the arrears for Udinese with a cannon of a shot in the 71st minute.
Inter have an enormous month ahead with a titanic Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich and tricky games with fourth-placed Bologna and Roma that may be pivotal to their title defense.
“We almost failed to win a match which we started really well. At a certain point, we just stopped playing,” said Inzaghi, who was sent off after blowing his top at his team and officials in the final minutes.
Inzaghi will be happy to have seen second-string players step up given his side’s next obligations, with Arnautovic and Frattesi putting Inter in thoroughly deserved command at the interval by converting Federico Dimarco crosses in the 12th and 29th minutes.
Atalanta’s Title Hopes Fade
Inter have also all but extinguished Atalanta’s faint chance of claiming their first league title, with the Bergamo club nine points behind with eight games left after crumbling to a 1-0 loss at Fiorentina.
Moise Kean delivered the first league away loss for Atalanta since August when he scored his 16th league goal of the season with assurance on the brink of half-time after stealing the ball off Isak Hien on the halfway line.
“We didn’t have the dynamism and energy to cause Fiorentina any trouble. We simply have to move on and look to the future,” Gasperini stated.
Cagliari strengthened their bid to avoid relegation by thumping rock-bottom Monza 3-0 and moving six points clear of the drop zone.
