Inter prevented the title race in Serie A from turning into nothing more than a procession for Napoli with their convincing win over the league leaders yesterday evening.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who argue that the Nerazzurri put a real dent in the Partenopei’s confidence and gave hope to AC Milan and Juventus as well.
Inter only beat Napoli by a scoreline of 1-0, but in truth the run of play suggested that it could have been more.
Moreover, the dynamics of the match presented not just a strong Nerazzurri team on both sides of the ball, but also an underwhelming Partenopei one compared to their performances before the winter break.
Luciano Spalletti’s team had looked good value for their eight-point gap at the top of the table established over the first fifteen matches of the season.
Combative and composed in midfield, defensively solid, dangerous on the flanks, and possessing the most lethal centre-forward in Serie A, the risk looked to be that Napoli would become a runaway juggernaut and the chase for the Scudetto nothing more than a one-team procession.
The fact that the Partenopei looked none of those against an Inter side who outplayed them in virtually all phases of play, then, was a sign that the Serie A title race can have numerous more twists and turns, and that the front-runners are far from invincible.