Napoli 3-1 Inter: Lukaku goal not enough as Inter suffer setback in Top 4 race

Inter suffered a setback in the top four race as Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s late strike earned Napoli the three points.

The Nerazzurri had looked likely to pick up a point when Romelu Lukaku equalised late on, but Napoli had other ideas, as their captain curled home from outside the box with five minutes left.

The first half was played largely at a pedestrian pace, with neither ‘keeper tested until midway through the period, when Victor Osimhen’s header was comfortably saved by Andre Onana.

At the other end, Simone Inzaghi’s side offered next to nothing going forward, hampered by defending deep and having no attacking outlet when they won possession. Their task was made even harder when they were reduced to 10 men, Roberto Gagliardini picking up his second yellow card in the space of 22 minutes just before the break.

Napoli tried to make use of the extra man after half-time, and after Di Lorenzo and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had seen shots saved, they finally opened the scoring through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa.

Inter initially showed little by way of a response, but after Denzel Dumfries had seen a header cleared off the line, Lukaku equalised by stabbing home from close range. However, it all meant nothing when Di Lorenzo picked out the top corner shortly afterwards.

Gianluca Gaetano put a seal on things, with a goal in injury time earning Napoli another impressive home win.

Match Events

12' CLOSE! Anguissa’s shot wide out

17' CLOSE! Anguissa’s shot wide out

19' Yellow Card! Gagliardini booked

41' Second Yellow Card! Gagliardini sent off

61' CHANCE! Di Lorenzo's shot over the bar

67' GOAL! Napoli 1-0 Inter (Anguissa)

79' NO GOAL! G.Simeone's shot ruled out for an earlier foul

82' GOAL! Napoli 1-1 Inter (Lukaku)

85' GOAL! Napoli 2-1 Inter (Di Lorenzo)

94' GOAL! Napoli 3-1 Inter (Gaetano)

Line-ups

Napoli XI: Zielinski, Di Lorenzo, Lobotka, Rrahmani, Meret, Anguissa, M.Olivera, Elmas, Osimhen, Min-jae Kim, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

Subs: Juan, Bereszynski, Mario Rui, Demme, Politano, Gollini, G.Simeone, Ndombele, Giacomo Raspadori, Leo Östigard, Alessio Zerbin, Gaetano, Davide Marfella, Karim Zedadka

Inter XI: Lukaku, De Vrij, D'Ambrosio, Correa, Gagliardini, Barella, Gosens, Onana, Bastoni, Bellanova, Kristjan Asllani

Subs: Darmian, Handanovic, Alex Cordaz, Dzeko, Acerbi, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Dimarco, Dumfries, Lautaro, Aleksandar Stankovic, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro