the day ofInter. Milan remain in the lead thanks to a comeback draw against Genoa, but the Nerazzurri are the real winners of this 12th round. By beating Napoli, therefore a direct competitor, and taking advantage of the equals of the Rossoneri and Juve, Conte's team earns points over all their rivals, waiting for Roma, however behind, to play their hand in today's postponement against Turin ( 20.45 pm). In three days Inter went from minus 5 to minus 1, also increasing the advantage over Juventus and Napoli: difficult to do better, also because the calendar was certainly not favourable. But football, as we know, often enjoys overcoming predictions, which is why it's no surprise that the Nerazzurri, once they came out of the cups, found the energy to take full loot.
It must also be said that the episodes had a certain weight, with Napoli passing, in the space of a few minutes, from the possible advantage (Handanovic's miracle on Insigne's heel) to being one goal and one man down. Insigne himself, in fact, after the referee had whistled a sacrosanct penalty for a foul by Ospina on Darmian, was sent off for an insult as blatant as it was stupid, forcing his teammates to try to replace Lukaku's goal (73 ' ) in 10 against 11. And right there, paradoxically, the best of the Azzurri came out, who came close to equalizing with Politano, Di Lorenzo (other super saves by Handanovic) and Petagna (post against the goalkeeper), without however finding it. In short, Inter's victory was painful, but damned important, both in terms of standings and morale.
“It wasn't easy at all, Napoli are an excellent team and this was a very tactical match – commented Happy Tale – There was a lot of respect on both sides, it wasn't a great match, but these are three important points: a victory against an ambitious opponent like Napoli is worth double”.
On the other hand, a lot of disappointment at Napoli, where you have to deal with the many wasted opportunities, but also with the Insigne episode, unforgivable for a mature player with the captain's armband around his arm.
"Only in Italy does it happen like this: the Napoli captain cannot be sent off for a vaffa... after a dubious penalty, it means that the referee is touchy - he defended him instead Gattuso – A vaffa after a penalty can be fine, it takes tact to understand that we are playing a lot, instead he left us in ten. We deserved more, but you have to score goals. Now we have to think about Lazio, we certainly have the performance left".
Second draw in a row for the Milan, moreover with a script very similar to that of Sunday. Against Parma the Rossoneri had gone down 2-0 and had grabbed the 2-2 in added time, but yesterday the match was a little more linear, but Genoa found the advantage twice anyway (double from Destro in the 47th minute and in the 60th minute), forcing the Devil to chase (Calabria 52') and to equalize only at the end (Kalulu 83').
Even the comment is quite similar: the empty side of the glass is represented by the lack of victory, moreover against an opponent who occupies the third last place with only 7 points, and by the many absences (in addition to the "usual" Ibrahimovic and Kjaer, Bennacer, Gabbia and Hernandez) who are starting to weigh heavily, the full one instead is the son of a team that keeps postponing the appointment with defeat, as well as scoring two goals per game.
"It was a complicated match but we managed to get it back, even if the goals conceded are becoming a bit too many - the analysis of Pioli – We did a great job without injuries, now it's time to grit our teeth. We have to get the most out of the next two to have a peaceful Christmas.”
Difficult evening even for the Juventus, stopped at 1-1 in the other big match of the round, namely the one against Gasperini's Atalanta. Complicated match, partly due to the objective value of the opponents, a lot because the black and whites took several steps backwards compared to the Barcelona-Genoa duo, but above all they were betrayed by Ronaldo, for once in a human version. It was a bad night for the Portuguese, who after running around the field in circles missed a penalty that could have changed everything, having it saved by Gollini.
Juve, who had already frustrated Chiesa's great goal (29') by taking in Freuler's equalizer (57'), thus risked losing it, saving themselves only thanks to some prodigious interventions by Szczesny. In the Bianconeri's plans this was supposed to be the night of approaching the top, instead Milan remain at +4 and Inter, above all, take another two points ahead.
“We played evenly, but when we have to jump like tonight… – he sighed Pirlo – We had to bring it home out of inertia, instead we sinned lightly and were unable to win it, and when you leave the match hanging in the balance, anything can happen. Ronaldo's mistake? It can happen, it happens once in a while, even if it's a shame because it would have helped us to go ahead with the result."
They will therefore conclude the round Rome and Turin, expected from today's postponement. A very delicate match for both teams, with the Giallorossi looking for a win that would bring them back into the championship round and the grenade points in the key to salvation. However, the eve was marked by the anger of Fonseca, very controversial with the League for having foreseen the match on Thursday, just three days from the next one with Atalanta.
"I wonder why everyone played on Wednesday and we, instead, have to do it 72 hours after the match in Bergamo - thundered the Portuguese coach - In any case, we have to concentrate on Turin, they are a quality team much more than the its ranking".
And then space for typical Roma, except for injuries (Mancini) and suspensions (Cristante), therefore 3-4-2-1 with Pau Lopez in goal, Ibanez, Smalling and Kumbulla in defense, Bruno Peres, Veretout, Pellegrini and Spinazzola in midfield, Pedro and Mkhitaryan in the frontline, Dzeko in attack. Giampaolo, whose bench is increasingly in the balance, will try the feat by relying on a 3-5-1-1 with Milinkovic-Savic (the brother of Lazio's Sergej) between the posts, Izzo, Lyanco and Bremer in the back department, Singo , Gojak, Rincon, Linetty and Rodriguez in the midfield, Lukic in support of the lone striker Belotti.
