Tonight, Inter entered San Paolo in Naples, a stadium they have not won at since 1997. Inter came to the game with an injury list that almost has more names on it than the match squad and were facing an in form Napoli. After Javier Zanetti’s injury and Walter Samuel’s continued absence, coach Stramaccioni once again had to set up a new defense, this time with two players who only yesterday were doubtful to play. In addition, he was forced to put Fredy Guarin and Ricky Alvarez as attackers. Walter Mazzarri in Napoli only had one injury to take into account when the only injured player was, ironically, the future Inter player Hugo Campagnaro.
In other words, nobody believed in Inter before the game and it took barely three minutes before it was confirmed. The born again Goran Pandev first fooled Kovacic and then struck a precise pass to Edinson Cavani who could run past Inter’s captain for the day, Christian Chivu, and nicely make it 1-0 for the home team.
Inter, which started off without a single natural striker on the pitch, managed to create some difficulties for Napoli but not better than Fredy Guarins blazing freekick that Napoli goalkeeper De Sanctis saved with some problems. Inter’s future, Mateo Kovacic, managed in the 23rd minute to produce a delicate pass to Ricky Alvarez, who was brought down inside the penalty area. Ricky took care of the penalty and although the penalty wasn’t particularly good, it managed to get by De Sanctis for 1-1.
Ten minutes later, Zuniga was on his way past Jonathan who clumsily caused a penalty for the home team. Unlike Ricky, Cavani didn’t hesitate and safely scored his second goal of the evening and made sure that Napoli could go to half-time in the lead.
In the second half Napoli became significantly more passive and let Inter have more possession in order to seek opportunities to counter attack. Which is exactly what Napoli did when they made it 3-1, as Cavani, Hamsik and Pandev interacted nicely and where the latter eventually found Cavani who took advantage of a rare mistake by Handanovic who should have prevented the ball from reaching the Uruguayan. The goal was, by the way, Cavani’s 100th in Serie A.
The match ended 3-1 to Napoli who with the victory secured a spot in next season’s Champions League. For Inter, it becomes difficult to even reach the Europa League now and given the problems this season, perhaps it’s just as well so that the team can rebuid in peace and quiet with only the games in Serie A and Coppa Italia to worry about.
Inter’s defending was once again a problem, which the three conceded goals reveal, and all three defenders showed weak form tonight. Chivu could definitely have been more alert at Cavani’s first goal and Ranocchia did not perform at the height of his capabilities. The young Juan Jesus has been accused of having some problems with concentration and therefore he might not be the right person to guard one of the best strikers in 90 minutes. The young Brazilian had a rough night, and despite the fact that Cavani is a player of the highest class I had hoped that Juan Jesus could use his physique to stop the Uruguayan a little more often. To his defense it should be mentioned that he didn’t get much help from Pereira. Handanovic could not be faulted for the first two goals, but the third seems like he should have been able to stop by getting hold of Pandev’s pass.
In the midfield, which today consisted of five players, it was only Kovacic who could leave the game without being ashamed of his effort. The young Croat proved once again that he, despite his age, can handle tough games and that he has great technical skills. The pass to Alvarez at the penalty situation was a masterpiece and despite the absence of strikers he was the only one in the midfield who showed any creativity. Jonathan was unfortunately back to earth again after some fine efforts. His actions at Napoli’s penalty were careless and unnecessary. Sadly, young Benassi didn’t seize the chance he got today. He started on the right of the midfield and then went over to the left side without really creating anything. I believe in Benassi but games like this shows how difficult it can be for young players to come into their own when the team is not in harmony. Kuzmanovic repeatedly gave surfaces for Kovacic, but didn’t contribute anything offensively and this far into the season, he should have picked up after sitting on the bench in Stuttgart. When it comes to Cavani’s compatriot Alvaro Pereira, I’m left wondering where he was. As I mentioned earlier he didn’t help Juan Jesus very much but at the same time he wasn’t seen much in the offense. Cambiasso who replaced Benassi got a to play one half but created very little.
In the attack Alvarez has, from my point of view, a free role and he was, along with Kovacic, the only ones who showed a little imagination. He disappeared, however, in the second half. He was the one who got Inter the penalty and used it to make his sixth goal of the season. Guarin was back on the pitch and helped to create some problems for Napoli, especially with his shot. Considering that he played on a position he’s not used to I would say that the Colombian made a decent performance.
Obviously, coach Stramaccioni has president Massimo Moratti’s support although many Interisti want to see him fired. Andrea Stramaccioni didn’t have much to work with tonight, but still managed to get Inter to play an not entirely unsuccessful first half even though he had no striker. Should he be criticized for something this evening, it would be that he didn’t try to put a striker on the pitch as his colleague Mazzarri made some adjustments at halftime. The question is which striker that would have made a difference though: an injured Rocchi or an unproven Forte.
Now we are waiting for this season to end, but already on Wednesday it’s time for a new game, when Inter face Lazio, that won 6-0 today against Bologna with the help of four goals by Klose. Will Inter have time to get back a few players to the game? Will it even be exciting?
Finally, I congratulate Juventus to their 29th Scudetto. Our rivals from Turin has been unchallenged from round one, they have played the best football and are therefore worthy champion.
