The Partenopei had the opportunity to go top of the table with a victory and took an early lead through Lorenzo Insigne’s penalty, buy Inter equalised through Edin Dzeko to share the points.
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Napoli head coach Luciano Spalletti feels his side played well in the 1-1 draw against Inter Milan in the Serie A fixture on Saturday. The Partenopei had the opportunity to go top of the table with a victory and took an early lead through Lorenzo Insigne’s penalty, buy Inter equalised through Edin Dzeko immediately after the restart to share the spoils. Meanwhile goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and the woodwork helped Inter to take a point at Diego Armando stadium.
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Napoli started the match brightly and took the lead inside the opening seven minutes. Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s effort from Piotr Zielinski’s cut back went wide, but Stefan de Vrij had caught Victor Osimhen on the back of the ankle . After a VAR review, the referee awarded a penalty, which Insigne fired home past Handanovic to put the hosts ahead.
The hosts dominated the first half and clearly looked the better side against the league leaders but couldn’t convert the half chances and Inter, who didn’t have a great game, managed to secure a point. Meanwhile AC Milan, who are just one point behind Inter, have a chance to go to the summit if they beat Sampdoria on Sunday.
“We must maintain this lightness of touch, this joy with our quality. At times we maintained it, at times we didn’t, and when that happens, the more ferocious and powerful team will come out on top,” Spalletti told DAZN.
“We have to bring the game onto our own characteristics in order to win it. We didn’t, we conceded that equaliser and it all became more difficult from there.”
How did Napoli try to neutralise Inter midfielder Marcelo Brozovic or the two attacking wing-backs?
“Any 4-2-3-1 against two box-to-box wing-backs like Inter needs to include the full-backs in the defending when they are higher, or the midfielder when they are getting there.
“My team had the right approach for long periods tonight, we could’ve done better in some situations. We conceded the goal when they made the most of that strength and won back the ball. When we don’t control the ball, it becomes tougher for us.”
Spalletti was asked if this represented a missed opportunity for Napoli, especially as they had taken the lead so early.
“We must accept what we see on the pitch and these games do teach us lessons in order to improve going forward. It was generally a very good performance, we had so many chances to get a second goal, but not taking those opportunities, we were unable to maintain that control and Inter’s physicality broke through.
“I am very happy with this point and the performance, because overall we played well, even if we didn’t do that much in the second half and still had some really big chances.
“You grow from games like this, as it’s experience that helps you to learn and improve against a really solid Inter side.”
