February 12, (THEWILL) – Inter maintained their Serie A lead with a 1-1 draw against second-placed Napoli on Saturday, in spite of Victor Osimhen’s best efforts to give I Partenopei an edge over the defending champions.
Inter had preserved a clean sheet in each of their previous four Serie A away games, but they were caught off guard early on when Lorenzo Insigne calmly stroked home from 12 yards after the VAR deemed Stefan de Vrij had fouled Osimhen in the box.
Despite being forced into an early substitution when Matteo Politano walked off hurt, Napoli remained the bigger threat moving forward. Piotr Zielinski’s long-range effort hit the post, while Osimhen and Insigne came close to doubling the lead.
Inter attempted to retaliate after suffering back-to-back league defeats for the first time since March 2020, following last weekend’s Derby della Madonnina setback against Milan, with Dzeko firing a close-range shot straight at David Ospina.
Inter’s number nine, Dzeko, was difficult to deny and he found the net shortly after the restart. An earlier cross ricocheted kindly into his path, and he hammered in off the underside of the crossbar for his third league goal since October
Samir Handanovic’s quick reflexes denied Osimhen and Eljif Elmas, but the sides could not be separated as the title battle remains a hotly contested one.
Despite the fact that Napoli appeared to be the team with the best chance of winning, they were unable to displace their opponents at the top of the table.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
