Sunday December 9, 2012 Day 16 Finished Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
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Serie A - Inter move second with win against Napoli
Internazionale moved into second place in Serie A courtesy of a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Napoli at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. More
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Live Commentary
Time:90'- Internazionale
- Napoli
- FT That's it. Inter move into second following a great showing. The players go straight to Stramaccioni as they celebrate a hard-fought win.
- 90+2 Cambiasso steps out of defence to lead an attack. The ball finds its way to Palacio, who volleys goal-wards. It is blocked. Inter work the ball to Palacio again who wins a corner.
- 90+1 Three minutes of added time
- 90' Cavani has a sight of goal but his fiercely stuck shot is blocked for a corner. Inter clear.
- 88' Zanetti leads an outrageous charge down the right that culminates in a corner – that’s exactly what they needed. They work it short, Palacio makes a decent run in behind, drops his shoulder, comes back inside and then thrashes an effort across the goal.
87' Free-kick from 30 yards out following a late challenge. Insigne plays the free-kick short before lifting it to Maggio but he heads straight at Handanovic – that was the chance.- 85' Almost one of the greatest own goals. Pereira throws his left foot at a centre from Cavani but the shank is so bad that it goes wide – if he got any decent sort of connection there then that was an own goal.
84' Mesto comes on for Hamsik.- 82' Napoli will have to break past two banks of four if they are to get an equaliser – having said that Zanetti leads by example to close down high up the pitch and Nagatomo is in behind but De Sanctis comes out to clear at his feet.
- 80' Britos wins a corner Ranocchia. Palacio rises highest to head a Hamsik corner clear. The resulting corner from Insigne goes out of play before coming back in and the referee blows.
- 78' Behrami, who has already been booked, is late on Guarin and lucky not to get a second yellow there.
- 76' Coutinho gives up possession with his first touch – not the impact he was looking for. Inter are looking to play on the counter but they have really ceded the initiative. I’d be surprised if they hold out against this potent attacking trident.
- 74' Pandev drags the ball across the box that Handanovic does well to claim at the feet of Cavani.
- 73' Inter sub: Coutinho for Milito for the hosts.
- 71' Hamsik beginning to see more of the ball now. Inter are working incredibly hard to get men behind the ball and it pays off when, under pressure, Zuniga lifts the ball out of play.
- 69' Inter do well to deal with the threat of consecutive corners.
- 67' Guarin receives the ball on the edge of the box but his effort is always rising – the Nerazzurri have responded well to the concession of that goal.
- 65' Excellent from Cannavaro, who tracks Milito all the way across the pitch to usher him off the ball inside the box. But Pandev is over-zealous and hauls Milito down on the edge of the box – Guarin over the free-kick but the delivery is too deep and De Sanctis claims.
- 63' Palacio throws himself at a Pereira cross flashed across the box but Britos clears the danger.
- 61' Inter sub: Palacio for Cassano for the hosts as they look to stem the flow.
- 60' This is wave after wave from Napoli. Maggio gets in behind and cuts back to Pandev whose shot is blocked by Cambiasso – claims for a penalty but nothing doing there.
- 58' Napoli sub: Dzemaili for Inler.
56' Yellow for Guarin following a late challenge.- 55' Two great saves from Handanovic in the build-up to that goal. And a suspicion of offside on the inital shot from Pandev.
54' GOAL!! 2-1. Incredible scramble ends in Cavani lashing it over the line from close range following an almighty scramble involving Pandev and Maggio.- 54' This really is end-to-end stuff. Hamsik’s cross is blocked. Milito leads the break but loses it. Inler draws a save from Handanovic. Corner.
- 53' Pereira finds Cassano running at Maggio down the left and the little forward shapes to cut inside but actually goes down the outside and strikes the post. Close.
- 51' Palacio warming up for the hosts.
- 49' The opening 15 or so are very important for the hosts as Napoli are really pressing high. Napoli’s formation is a little expansive now with that introduction of Pandev they’ve got four attackers on the pitch.
- 47' Napioli win an early corner – Zanetti charging down a Hamsik cross. The corner is near post for Cavani but he can’t get his head to it.
46' Pandev for Gamberini as the hosts get the second half underway.- 45+3' That's it from the first half - Inter 2 Napoli 0. Incredibly enjoyable first-half.
- 45' Three minutes of added time following that injury to Cassano.
- 44' Insigne with a wonderfully instinctive volley but the effort is just the wrong side of the post.
- 43' Yellow card for Gamberini, who hacks down Milito.
- 41' Napoli are very unfortunate to be two goals down here.
- 39' GOOOOAL!!Guarin collects a loose Zuniga clearance before showing a sleight of feet to work some space and feed the ball into Milito. Milito holds off Cannavaro before firing low to the left of De Sanctis – there isn’t much power on the shot but the keeper can only push it into the corner. 2-0.
- 38' Cassano has been a little sheepish since that heavy challenge from Britos and he gives the ball away for the second time in succession.
- 36' Cavani looks to turn Cambiasso but his heavy touch rolls out of play for a goal-kick. Napoli recycle the ball, Hamsik looks for Maggio behind Pereira but he is tracked all the way and the switch drifts out of play for a throw.
- 34' It is getting a little ferocious. Maggio aggressively debates the award of a goal-kick and the assistant referee changes his mind. That contentious decision comes to nothing though as the corner is cleared before Behrami wildly slices wide.
- 32' Gargano looks for Cassano but Behrami steals the ball. Juan Jesus in turns takes the ball off the foot of Cavani before leading an attack but he over-runs it and goes in with his studs up on Inler. Free-kick.
- 30' Guarin runs with the ball at pace, but Cavani, of all people, is back there to challenge.
- 29' Cassano back on!
- 28' Handanovic is in the book for time wasting.
- 26' Great movement from Cavani to get a yard of space at the back post. Insigne does incredibly well to pick him out but he heads wide. Great movement but a bad miss for a man of his calibre.
24' Looks like Cassano could be leaving the play – it doesn’t look good. He is carried off on a stretcher with Palacio warming up.- 23' And again. Britos has to be alert to avert danger with Cassano and Milito exchanging passes inside the box. Britos cleanly wins the ball but Cassano is down injured. Great challenge.
- 22' Cassano again plays a free-kick short and almost catches the Napoli defence sleeping. He looks for an exchange of passes with Milito but the Napoli defence crowd them out.
- 20' Cavani coming to the fore. He lays-off to Hamsik, whose effort is wide. The Slovak is insistent that he is due a corner but the referee or the fifth official are having none of it.
- 18' Big chance. Cavani leads a break from midfield, skips past auxiliary centre-back Cambiasso and feeds Insigne, who cuts inside from the right channel, skips past a couple of flailing Inter legs before curling the ball just wide of the post from outside the box.
- 17' This is an intriguing contest with both sides counter-attackers – it is end-to-end stuff here.
- 16' Hamsik leads a break but loses the ball under his feet. Cavani is a little over zealous in his efforts to retrieve the ball and he hauls down Zanetti. Free-kick just outside the Inter box.
15' Cassano is about four yards offside following a loose ball from Inler offering the hosts the chance of a break but the assistant referee’s flag is immediately aloft.- 13' De Sanctis is off his line quickly to collect a ball from the home defence.
- 12' Guarin looks to lead another break but he is ushered off the ball by Behrami – we have a slight hiatus for the physio.
- 11' Hamsik juts can’t get on to a Insigne flick but Napoli have responded well to going behind. Their full-backs are very high up the pitch.
- 10' Insigne is a couple of yards offside but Maggio fires his centre wildly over the bar – he didn’t know he was offside and that was a poor, poor miss.
- 9' He controlled that volley beautifully with the side of his foot.
- 8' GOOOAL!! Inter win a corner. Cassano lifts it to the back post and Guarin makes a very late run from deep to fire past De Sanctis on the volley from just outside the six-yard box.
- 7' Cannavaro is late on Cassano and the hosts have a free-kick but it comes to little.
- 5' Inter have made the stronger start here – Guarin makes a strong run but it is brought to a halt by a robust Cannavaro challenge.
- 3' Hamsik picks up the ball in central midfield but his through ball has too much on it.
- 1' Right, we're off at a chilly and boisterous Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
- 19:40 Inter have just one win in the last six in all competitions. The visitors have also been in prolific form of late, hitting the back of the net 13 times in their last five league matches.
- 19:35 Both sides suffered disappointing results in the Europa League this week. Napoli lost at home to PSV Eindhoven while Azerbaijani minnows Neftchi Baku held an inexperienced Inter side to a draw.
- 19:30 Marek Hamsik was a doubt having skipped Friday training due to suffering from flu symptoms but starts behind Cavani.
- 19:25 Wesley Sneijder does not feature as his contract dispute rumbles on at the San Siro – with further straining of relations following the Dutch playmaker’s decision to break club rules by tweeting his omission from the Neftchi game. Dejan Stankovic, Joel Obi and Gaby Mudingayi are injured, while Walter Samuel serves a one-match ban.
- 19:20 Inter: Handanovic; Ranocchia, Cambiasso, Juan Jesus; Nagatomo, Zanetti, Gargano, Guarin, Pereira; Cassano, Milito. Subs: Castellazzi, Belec, Silvestre, Coutinho, Palacio, Mariga, Benassi, Pasa, Mbaye, Duncan, Romano, Livaja /// Napoli:De Sanctis; Gamberini, Cannavaro, Britos; Maggio, Behrami, Inler, Zuniga; Hamsik; Insigne, Cavani. Subs: Rosati, Grava, Donadel, Aronica, Dossena, Vargas, Campagnaro, Colombo, Mesto, Pandev, Dzemaili, Fernandez.
- 19:15 Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage from Stadio Giuseppe Meazza where both Internazionale and Napoli will be hoping to close the gap on Juventus, who moved five points clear at the top of the table following a 1-0 win at Palermo earlier in the day.
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Summary
- 87' Free-kick from 30 yards out following a late challenge. Insigne plays the free-kick short before lifting it to Maggio but he heads straight at Handanovic – that was the chance.
- 85' Almost one of the greatest own goals. Pereira throws his left foot at a centre from Cavani but the shank is so bad that it goes wide – if he got any decent sort of connection there then that was an own goal.
- 54' GOAL!! 2-1. Incredible scramble ends in Cavani lashing it over the line from close range following an almighty scramble involving Pandev and Maggio.
- 53' Pereira finds Cassano running at Maggio down the left and the little forward shapes to cut inside but actually goes down the outside and strikes the post. Close.
- 44' Insigne with a wonderfully instinctive volley but the effort is just the wrong side of the post.
- 39' GOOOOAL!!Guarin collects a loose Zuniga clearance before showing a sleight of feet to work some space and feed the ball into Milito. Milito holds off Cannavaro before firing low to the left of De Sanctis – there isn’t much power on the shot but the keeper can only push it into the corner. 2-0.
- 26' Great movement from Cavani to get a yard of space at the back post. Insigne does incredibly well to pick him out but he heads wide. Great movement but a bad miss for a man of his calibre.
- 23' And again. Britos has to be alert to avert danger with Cassano and Milito exchanging passes inside the box. Britos cleanly wins the ball but Cassano is down injured. Great challenge.
- 22' Cassano again plays a free-kick short and almost catches the Napoli defence sleeping. He looks for an exchange of passes with Milito but the Napoli defence crowd them out.
- 18' Big chance. Cavani leads a break from midfield, skips past auxiliary centre-back Cambiasso and feeds Insigne, who cuts inside from the right channel, skips past a couple of flailing Inter legs before curling the ball just wide of the post from outside the box.
- 9' He controlled that volley beautifully with the side of his foot.
- 8' GOOOAL!! Inter win a corner. Cassano lifts it to the back post and Guarin makes a very late run from deep to fire past De Sanctis on the volley from just outside the six-yard box.
- 19:20 Inter: Handanovic; Ranocchia, Cambiasso, Juan Jesus; Nagatomo, Zanetti, Gargano, Guarin, Pereira; Cassano, Milito. Subs: Castellazzi, Belec, Silvestre, Coutinho, Palacio, Mariga, Benassi, Pasa, Mbaye, Duncan, Romano, Livaja /// Napoli:De Sanctis; Gamberini, Cannavaro, Britos; Maggio, Behrami, Inler, Zuniga; Hamsik; Insigne, Cavani. Subs: Rosati, Grava, Donadel, Aronica, Dossena, Vargas, Campagnaro, Colombo, Mesto, Pandev, Dzemaili, Fernandez.
Team Line-up & Ratings
InternazionaleManager: Andrea Stramaccioni
NapoliManager: Walter Mazzarri
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Line-up
Live Team Line-Up
Starting line-up
- S. Handanovic
- A. Ranocchia
- E. Cambiasso
- Juan
- J. Zanetti
- F. Guarin
- Y. Nagatomo
- W. Gargano
- Á. Pereira
- D. Milito
- A. Cassano
Subs
- S. Handanovic
Starting line-up
- M. De Sanctis
- A. Gamberini
- P. Cannavaro
- M. Britos
- V. Behrami
- G. Inler
- C. Maggio
- M. Hamšík
- J. Zúñiga
- L. Insigne
- E. Cavani
Subs
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Rate Players
60′ 
