Even though they failed to beat Napoli, Inter Milan only needs 14 more points to ensure they become champions of the Italian League.
Inter Milan host Napoli in Week 29 of the Italian League, Sunday (17/3/2024) at the Giuseppe Meazza.
Entering this match, the Nerazzurri knew that their lead at the top of the standings had been cut to 13 points.
The reason is, AC Milan, who is ranked 2nd, managed to win 3-1 over Hellas Verona.
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AC Milan now has 62 points from 29 matches while Inter Milan has collected 75 points in 28 matches.
Simone Inzaghi's troops need to respond by winning.
Especially in the Italian League, Inter Milan is in a very good performance graph by always winning in the last 10 matches.
Meanwhile, Napoli is in 7th place with 44 points.
The defending champions also need a win in an effort to finish in the top 4 to qualify for next season's Champions League.
Recently I Partenopei has been in an improving form by going unbeaten in the last month in 5 Italian League matches.
Both teams were eliminated from the Champions League in the middle of last week.
So, their focus is now on their remaining targets in domestic competitions.
The Inter Milan versus Napoli match immediately started at a high tempo.
Inter Milan got the first chance in the 11th minute when Federico Dimarco sent a low cross from the left into the penalty box.
Lautaro Martinez tried to reach out and shoot the ball but Napoli defender Juan Jesus managed to block.
In the 13th minute, the home team had consecutive chances.
Marcus Thuram's cross was headed by Matteo Darmian but the ball was blocked by Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret.
The ball was hit by Martinez's shot but Meret made another save.
Inter Milan's third attempt through Nicolo Barella's shot shot over the goal.
In the 15th minute, Dimarco's long-range shot went wide to the left of Meret's goal.
Napoli changed to threaten Inter Milan's goal in the 32nd minute.
Off the right wing, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa tried to provide an assist for Matteo Politano.
However, Inter Milan's defense was still able to block.
Before the first half was finished, in the 43rd minute to be precise, the score finally changed.
Inter Milan took a 1-0 lead through Darmian's goal which completed Alessandro Bastoni's low pass from the left into the middle of the penalty box.
The referee gave 1 minute injury time and La Beneamata closed the first half with a 1-0 lead.
The second half had only been running for 3 minutes, Inter Milan had another chance through Martinez's low shot from inside the penalty box which was still blocked by Meret.
Not long after, Thuram had free space to shoot but his shot sent the ball high into the goal.
In the 53rd minute, Dimarco's shot from outside the penalty box made Meret work hard to make a save.
Napoli were still trying to fight back and in the 55th minute, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's long-range shot was right on target but was easily handled by Inter Milan goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
Until the middle of the second half, Inter Milan continued to dominate, having fired 15 shots, 5 of which were right on target.
On the other hand, Napoli only fired 6 shots and only 1 was on target.
In the 70th minute, Napoli's number of shots increased but Hamed Traore's effort was still inconsequential and far from the target.
Napoli missed another good opportunity in the 78th minute with Anguissa's shot missing the target.
In the 81st minute, Inter Milan, who looked comfortable securing victory, was caught off guard.
A Napoli corner kick hit Bastoni's head.
Denzel Dumfries just stood still and didn't guard so former Inter Milan defender, Juan Jesus, easily headed the ball into Sommer's goal.
The referee gave 3 minutes of injury time but no further goals were scored.
Inter Milan's winning streak stopped after they only got a 1-1 draw.
However, Inter Milan's chances of becoming Italian League champions have not experienced a significant setback.
Inter Milan has now collected 76 points from 29 matches.
Its closest competitor is city rival club, AC Milan, which has 62 points.
The Italian League only has 9 matches remaining so the maximum points that AC Milan can get is 89.
To ensure that they are not overtaken again, Inter Milan needs to collect 90 points.
This means that Lautaro Martinez et al. they just need an additional 14 points to ensure they win the scudetto and at the same time add a second star above their logo.
Inter Milan vs Napoli 1-1 (Matteo Darmian 43'/Juan Jesus 81')
Inter Milan (3-5-2): 1-Yann Summer; 28-Benjamin Pavard (31-Yann Bisseck 46'), 15-Francesco Acerbi, 95-Alessandro Bastoni; 36-Matteo Darmian (17-Tajon Buchanan 84'), 23-Nicolo Barella (16-David Frattesi 71'), 20-Hakan Calhanoglu (22-Henrikh Mkhitaryan), 32-Federico Dimarco (2-Denzel Dumfries 79'); 9-Marcus Thuram, 10-Lautaro Martinez (70-Alexis Sanchez 79')
Producer: Simone Inzaghi
Napoli (4-3-3): 1-Alex Meret; 22-Giovanni Di Lorenzo, 13-Amir Rrahmani, 5-Juan Juan Jesus, 17-Mathias Olivera (6-Mario Rui 74'); 99-Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa, 68-Stanislav Lobotka, 8-Hamed Traore (24-Jens Cajuste 70'); 21-Matteo Politano (26-Cyril Ngonge 90+2'), 81-Giacomo Raspadori (18-Giovanni Simeone 75'), 77-Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (29-Jesper Lindstrom 90+1')
Shoemaker: Francesco Underpants