Inter Milan’s march towards a 20th league title suffered a terrible setback on Sunday night as the reigning champions, Napoli without their star striker Victor Osimhen escaped the San Siro with a creditable 1-1 draw.
Juan Jesus nodded home Napoli’s leveler with nine minutes remaining after fighting back from Matteo Darmian’s opener shortly before half-time.
Leaders Inter still need 14 more points from their remaining nine fixtures to claim a 20th league title after their huge advantage on AC Milan was cut to 14 points with their local rivals winning 3-1 at Verona.
It was another disappointing result for Simone Inzaghi’s Inter following a painful exit from the Champions League at the hands of Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, as their 10-match domestic winning streak came to an end.
It was a symbolic fixture for Inter as they are outperforming Napoli’s incredible charge to their historic third league crown last season.
Despite the Sunday draw, Inter have more points and a significant better goal difference than Napoli did at the same stage last season.
However, their dream of securing the title with a record-equaling five matches to spare by beating Milan in next month’s match is now less realistic than before kick-off.
Napoli were missing Osimhen after the Nigeria forward picked up a hamstring problem in training and put up a brave fight after being dumped out of Europe by Barcelona on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, goals shortly before and after half-time by Theo Hernandez and Christian Pulisic put Milan two ahead at Verona before Samuel Chukwueze volleyed the away side out of sight with 11 minutes remaining.
Sunday’s win moved Milan three points ahead of third-placed Juve, who were held to a goalless draw by Genoa, in the race for Champions League football.
Stefano Pioli’s side might be miles behind Inter but they are all-but guaranteed a spot in next season’s Champions League as they sit 11 points above Roma.
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