Inter Milan Misses Out on Golden Opportunity to Lead Serie A Title Race as Napoli Draws

Napoli's hopes of extending their lead at the top of the Serie A table were dashed as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Lazio on Saturday. Boulaye Dia's late goal in the 87th minute salvaged a point for Lazio and denied Napoli the chance to move four points clear of Inter Milan. The draw leaves Napoli just two points ahead of Inter, who have a chance to overtake them with a win against Juventus on Sunday. Napoli have now drawn three consecutive matches and have struggled to beat Lazio this season, setting up a tense showdown in Turin between the two fierce rivals.

"Lazio are our bogey team... we should be proud of what we're doing and make sure that we always come off the field with our jerseys soaked in sweat," said Napoli coach Antonio Conte.

Conte had to deal with the absence of three left-sided players with David Neres, Leonardo Spinazzola and Mathias Olivera all injured, and switched Napoli to a three-man defence with Pasquale Mazzocchi coming in as a makeshift wing-back.

And his injury problems got worse when Alessandro Buongiorno, who played for the first time in 2025 after recovering from a back injury, had to be replaced by Matteo Politano near the hour mark and Mazzocchi asked to substituted with five minutes remaining.

"When Mazzocchi asked to be taken off it caused us a big problem because I had to put (central defender) Rafa Marin at full-back," added Conte.

"But I can't ask any more from these boys because what they are doing is extraordinary."

Lazio battle

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Napoli looked to be collecting a big three points when Adam Marusic scored a bizarre own goal in the 64th minute, the defender sticking out his left foot to block Giacomo Raspadori's deflected drive only to somehow chip it past goalkeeper Ivan Provedel and into his own net.

It was Raspadori who drilled Napoli level in the 13th minute following a neat exchange of passes with Romelu Lukaku, cancelling out Gustav Isaksen's thumping early opener for Lazio.

Hosts Lazio briefly thought they had levelled the scores moments later through a sensational Mattia Zaccani bicycle kick before the Italy international was ruled offside as he flashed in his exceptional finish.

But Dia made sure Lazio got something from a keenly-contested match at the Stadio Olimpico and moved three points ahead of Juve in fourth place.

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Marco Baroni's team are on 46 points but will be knocked out of Italy's Champions League positions on goal difference if Juve beat Inter.

"It was a great match and we played really well... Honestly I think we were a bit unlucky and probably should have won today," said Isaksen.

Atalanta slip

Atalanta stay five points behind Napoli after their bid for a first league title was dented by a goalless draw with Cagliari.

Already hit with injuries including that of key attacker Ademola Lookman, Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini dropped first teamers like Marten de Roon, Ederson and Charles De Ketelaere ahead of his team's return leg of a Champions League play-off with Club Brugge.

Atalanta trail that tie 2-1 after a hugely controversial penalty given against them in stoppage of the first leg in Belgium on Wednesday.

"We're up for that match, especially after how the first leg ended... We have to try and do everything to get through," said Gasperini.

Santiago Gimenez marked his full Serie A debut with the decisive goal in AC Milan's 1-0 win over struggling Verona, his second goal in as many league appearances since signing from Feyenoord earlier this month.

Mexico striker Gimenez was on hand to nod in for seventh-placed Milan 74 minutes into his first San Siro start, after Rafael Leao deftly volleyed a delicate cross into his path.

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The 23-year-old will face his former Feyenoord teammates in Milan on Tuesday hoping to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg of their Champions League play-off.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)