This was supposed to be a tricky week for Inter, going away to the champions Napoli after playing in Portugal on Wednesday night. Having led Serie A for most of this season, they were overtaken on Friday by the same Juventus team that had held them to a draw the previous Sunday. The only path back to the top was to win at a ground where they had done that once in their last 17 league visits.
No problem. Hakan Calhanoglu broke the deadlock before half-time, Nicolò Barella added a second close to the hour mark and Marcus Thuram sealed a 3-0 victory. The night ended with the Frenchman twirling his Inter shirt over his head: an homage to the iconic celebration of his idol Adriano after a Milan derby-winning goal back in December 2005.
It was not really as straightforward as that synopsis might make it sound. Napoli, reinvigorated by the appointment of Walter Mazzarri to replace Rudi Garcia as manager earlier this month, started the game well. Eljif Elmas drew a full-length save from Yann Sommer in the third minute, and Matteo Politano rattled the crossbar. Approaching the interval, they had been the better team.
And then Inter took the lead with a goal as scintillating as it was contentious. Lautaro Martínez appeared to foul Stanislav Lobotka after losing control of the ball in the middle of the pitch, wrapping his arm around the Napoli player’s waist to make sure they both went to ground. Possession ran to Barella, who released Thuram into space down the left. He passed to Federico Dimarco, who crossed for Denzel Dumfries, who headed back to Barella on the edge of the box. The Italian served a nonchalant touch to Calhanoglu, who drilled a half-volley into the bottom corner from the top of the D.
An absolute bullet from outside the box from Hakan Çalhanoğlu 😮💨
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 3, 2023
Inter take the lead against Napoli at the Maradona! pic.twitter.com/TeAzjxavmL
Even after dislodging a player as brilliant as Marcelo Brozovic from Inter’s starting XI, it can feel as though Calhanoglu does not get the recognition he deserves. He was mocked in some quarters after saying in March that he viewed himself as one of the “best five in Europe” in his position, insisting “I’m not far off De Bruyne or Modric”, but backed those words up by playing a central role in his team’s run to a Champions League final.
Calhanoglu is Inter’s second-top scorer. Although his last six strikes before this one all came from the penalty spot, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that his 18 goals from outside the box since 2018 are second only to De Bruyne (19). He has also made more tackles per game this season than any Inter teammate.
A No 10 for much of his career, he has been drawn back by Simone Inzaghi to operate in front of the defence. “You aren’t used to seeing me this way, but I’ve always had the hunger to help my team,” he told Sky Sport on Sunday. “It’s not straightforward to swap from trequartista to regista but I’ve done a lot of video analysis and the staff here has helped me. I’ve taken a few more bookings, but that happens in this role.”
He avoided adding another in Naples, but this was a charmed night for his team on the disciplinary front. In the 58th minute, Francesco Acerbi appeared to tread on Victor Osimhen’s heel as they collided inside the penalty area. Again, the referee, Davide Massa, waved play on. The lack of a whistle nearly allowed Napoli to score anyway, the ball breaking to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who forced a brilliant save from Sommer at the keeper’s near post.
Once again, though, the game would swing against the hosts right after a costly missed decision. Barella’s goal arrived four minutes later, Martinéz finding him with a square ball to the edge of the box, before the Italian slalomed superbly through the challenges of Leo Østigard and Natan to score.
Even after that, Napoli still carried a threat. It is too soon to judge Mazzarri’s second stint as Napoli manager, but the early indications are that he has restored a sense of freedom to his team that was lost under Garcia. Kvaratskhelia roamed across the attack, sometimes swapping fully from left to right.
Perhaps there will eventually need to be a swing back in the opposite direction. By the time Thuram completed the scoring, converting a Juan Cuadrado cross from close range, Napoli had conceded seven goals in five days. The fixture list is unlikely to serve them Real Madrid and Inter in back-to-back games again, but this was a chastening week for a team whose hopes of retaining the title already appear at an end.
Defeat left Napoli 11 points behind the league leaders. Their home form has been abysmal, collecting just two wins and one draw from seven games at the Stadio Diego Maradona. Mazzarri did not speak to reporters at full time, wisely deciding that it was better not to risk a comment on refereeing decisions that he might come to regret. “We want him on the bench,” said the sporting director, Mauro Meluso, who appeared in his stead. “Mazzarri preferred not to come to the press conference, to make sure there were no statements that could lead to disciplinary problems.”
Everyone has their own approach to such matters. Earlier on Sunday evening, José Mourinho – who has spoken fluent Italian in press conferences since he first arrived at Inter in 2008 – reverted to Portuguese for an interview on Dazn, saying his Italian was not “polished” enough to avoid misunderstandings. He had been placed under investigation by the Italian Football Federation for expressing doubt before Roma’s game against Sassuolo over whether the referee, Matteo Marcenaro, possessed the “emotional stability” to take charge of such a match. Mourinho’s team subsequently won the game 2-1, extending their strong recent form to climb level with Napoli in fourth place.
The battle for Champions League places is shaping up already as a fierce one, just four points separating Roma and Napoli from Lazio in ninth, though perhaps it is still too early to worry about such details. If Inter look like early title favourites, their strength is better captured by a different set of numbers: the ones that show they have scored 33 times and conceded only seven in 14 games.
Monza 1-2 Juventus, Milan 3-1 Frosinone, Lazio 1-0 Cagliari, Genoa 1-1 Empoli, Napoli 0-3 Inter, Sassuolo 1-2 Roma, Udinese 3-3 Verona, Fiorentina 3-0 Salernitana, Lecce 1-1 Bologna
This is a marked improvement on last season – when they had shipped 20 goals by the corresponding stage. More remarkable still is the fact that they are doing this while navigating a defensive injury crisis that had already deprived them of Alessandro Bastoni and Benjamin Pavard, before Stefan de Vrij and Dumfries limped out of Sunday’s game.
Juventus will have another chance to put the pressure on next weekend, playing before Inter once more in the Friday night slot. Their opponents are Napoli, who travel to Turin in need of a positive result to reinvigorate their title defence.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inter Milan | 14 | 26 | 35 |
| 2 | Juventus | 14 | 13 | 33 |
| 3 | AC Milan | 14 | 9 | 29 |
| 4 | Roma | 14 | 11 | 24 |
| 5 | Napoli | 14 | 9 | 24 |
| 6 | Fiorentina | 14 | 6 | 23 |
| 7 | Bologna | 14 | 5 | 22 |
| 8 | Atalanta | 13 | 8 | 20 |
| 9 | Lazio | 14 | 0 | 20 |
| 10 | Monza | 14 | 1 | 18 |
| 11 | Frosinone | 14 | -4 | 18 |
| 12 | Torino | 13 | -6 | 16 |
| 13 | Lecce | 14 | -3 | 16 |
| 14 | Genoa | 14 | -4 | 15 |
| 15 | Sassuolo | 14 | -5 | 15 |
| 16 | Udinese | 14 | -9 | 12 |
| 17 | Empoli | 14 | -17 | 11 |
| 18 | Verona | 14 | -9 | 10 |
| 19 | Cagliari | 14 | -13 | 10 |
| 20 | Salernitana | 14 | -18 | 8 |
