Legendary former Inter striker Alessandro Altobellie believes that the Nerazzurri earned their victory against Napoli on Sunday rather than the Partenopei failing to perform.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster Canale 8, the former striker gave the view that the match was well-fought by both sides but that the Nerazzurri’s display edged it despite the high quality shown by their opponents.
Inter and Napoli both looked to play the match at a high tempo on Sunday, with both fully understanding the significance of the clash in the Scudetto race.
Both sides had spells in which they controlled most of possession and dictated the pace at which the game was played, with the Partenopei looking particularly to have been in the ascendancy when they were pushing for a late equalizer.
However, it was the Nerazzurri whose spells of dominance lasted longer and produced more concrete results to swing the five-goal thriller in their favour.
“In Sunday’s match at the San Siro, Napoli played very well as a team,” Altobelli stated. “Up to that moment Inter had not given their best in big matches and had never won a head-to-head clash with a direct rival out of the four that they’d played.”
“Despite Samir Handanovic’s miracle save and Dries Mertens’ miscue, I’d say that the Napoli didn’t lose it but that the Nerazzurri won it,” he concluded.
