Napoli missed the chance to win the Serie A title on Sunday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Salernitana and the wait for a first Scudetto in 33 years goes on.
With such a big lead at the top of the table the Azzurri have gone slightly off the boil recently, but last week Napoli faced Juventus and came up with a 93rd minute winner. This time around they went ahead on 62 minutes after totally dominating the game; but they just couldn’t hold on.
In the first half top scorer Victor Osimhen came close to opening the scoring when he headed down a cross from Piotr Zielinski but Guillermo Ochoa, the veteran Salernitana keeper made a fine stop in the bottom corner. Early in the second half the ever lively Khvicha Kvaratskhelia fired a shot inches over but the Napoli fans didn’t have long to wait. Giacomo Raspadori swung over a corner and wing back Olivera met it with a firm header into the bottom corner.
Napoli pushed for a second with both Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen going close while keeper Alex Meret had to be alert to keep out Grigoris Kastanos but the Azzurri’s wastefulness came back to bite them when Bulaye Dia popped up with an 84th minute equaliser.
Ochoa made a string of great saves to win his team a point on another day of frustration for the champions elect. Napoli are just one win away from the Scudetto and, when it happens, you can catch up with all the action right here at SBOTOP.
Martinez is so sharp for Inter
Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan climbed back into the top four after a staging a late comeback against Lazio, inspired by star striker Lautaro Martinez. The 25 year old Argentine has scored 75 goals in 167 games for the Nerazzurri and he made it 17 for the campaign with a late brace at the San Siro as Inter ran out 3-1 winners.
Lazio have had a tricky run of fixtures which they have negotiated pretty well, winning a recent clash with Juventus and also triumphing in the Rome Derby. And they started well enough against Inter on Sunday when Felipe Anderson latched onto a ball from Luis Alberto and swept his shot low into the bottom left corner. The Romans held out until the 77th minute when Romelu Lukaku held off a tackle and slid the ball through to Martinez who beat the Inter defence to it and poked home the leveller.
Inter went ahead in spectacular and painful fashion as Lukaku floated the ball across to the far post where Robin Gosens fired home an acrobatic volley but he dislocated his shoulder as he fell. And the third came when Lautaro intercepted a poor back pass from Matias Vecino and beat the Lazio keeper again.
Big, big win for Inter.
Late Drama in Rome
Roma and AC Milan cancelled each other out for 90 minutes at the Stadio Olimpico and then again in a blistering seven minutes of injury time as Roma’s Tammy Abraham and Milan’s Alexis Saelemaekers scored on 94 and 97. Neither side registered a shot on target in a stop-start first half but I Rossoneri had a golden chance to open the scoring soon after the break when Rafael Leao found Saelemaekers at the back post but the forward blasted over.
Former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham (and how the Blues need a goal scorer right now) thought he’d won the game when he controlled the ball superbly and smashed it past Mike Maignan to make it 1-0. But, just three minutes later, and with whistles ringing around the stadium, Leao found Saelemaekers again and this time the Belgian didn’t miss.
The 1-1 draw left Milan and Roma fifth and sixth in the Serie A table but if the hosts had held out they would have finished the weekend in fourth place.
Zapata stunner keeps Atalanta in the hunt
In other Serie A 2023 news, Colombian striker Duvan Zapata scored his first goal in five months to give Atalanta a hard fought win away to Torino. The 2-1 victory kept La Dea in contention for a Champions League place, just two points behind Inter Milan. Former Torino star Davide Zappacosta gave the visitors a lead but Torino fought back as Nikola Vlasic brought a strong save from Atalanta stopper Marco Sportiello, but when the keeper later parried a shot from Aleksei Miranchuk he couldn’t stop Antonio Sanabria from steering home the leveller. But Torino’s parity was short lived and when Zapata picked up the ball on the left, he made an electrifying run, cut back inside and fired home at the near post to send the travelling fans wild. It was only Zapata’s second goal of the campaign but it might turn out to be priceless. The Serie A 2023 betting odds reckon there is a six way battle for three Champions League places and La Dea are still in the race.
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