Romelu Lukaku hit the woodwork twice, but it’s Napoli who lead Inter 1-0 at half-time thanks to a Samir Handanovic howler.
Follow all the action as it happens from today’s six Serie A games on the Liveblog.
The Partenopei knew a win would put them joint fourth with Juventus, while the Nerazzurri were after a 12th consecutive Serie A victory. David Ospina and Faouzi Ghoulam were injured, with Hirving Lozano injured, while only Arturo Vidal and Aleksandar Kolarov didn’t make the trip.
Napoli wore special edition jerseys created by fashion designer Marcelo Burlon County of Milan, with his trademark wings motif.
Victor Osimhen almost pounced on a weak Milan Skriniar back-pass and Fabian Ruiz fired straight at Samir Handanovic, while Stefan de Vrij and Kalidou Koulibaly nodded over from set plays.
Inter again focused on defend and counter, with Lorenzo Insigne sprinting back as last man to intercept Achraf Hakimi from 12 yards, after Romelu Lukaku threaded through for Matteo Darmian.
Moments later, Marcelo Brozovic’s effort was redirected onto the crossbar from close range by Lukaku, who poked a toe at it.
Napoli took the lead instead with a bizarre incident, as Insigne got down the left and tried to fire it across for an Osimhen tap-in from six yards. However, Handanovic intercepted, fumbled the ball after colliding with Stefan de Vrij and it went back over the line.
Lukaku hit the frame of the goal for a second time when redirecting someone else’s attempt, as Christian Eriksen’s free kick bounced off his stomach and onto the upright.
The Nerazzurri surged forward and on the stroke of half-time, Alex Meret did well to push the Lautaro Martinez through ball off the feet of Nicolò Barella, with Manolas clearing before Lukaku could pounce on the rebound.
Napoli 1-0 Inter (Half-Time)
Handanovic og 36 (N)
Napoli: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Koulibaly, Manolas, Mario Rui; Fabian Ruiz, Demme; Politano, Zielinski, L Insigne; Osimhen
Inter: Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, A Bastoni; Hakimi, Barella, Brozovic, Eriksen, Darmian; Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez
Ref: Doveri