Lukaku’s brace guide Inter to summit of the table

Former Manchester United striker and Inter Milan forward Romelu Lukaku’s brace coupled with Martinez’s 62nd-minute striker helped Inter Milan to reach the top of the table after Juventus were on top as they defeated Cagliari on Monday in Serie A. The victory against Napoli at Napoli’s home was Inter’s first since 1997.

On one side, Conte’s Inter is on the prowl and is creating history and on the other hand, Napoli suffered their second defeat in 3 games under Gennaro Gattuso. Gattuso was made manager after Carlo Ancelotti was sacked last month. Even though Napoli showed the flashes of brilliance, they couldn’t continue for a longer period and remained in the 8th position.

Napoli, on the other hand, suffered their second defeat in three games since Gennaro Gattuso replaced Carlo Ancelotti as a coach and stayed eighth with 24 points despite showing flashes of their old style.

After the game, Conte expressed;

“This win is worth a lot,”  “It’s never easy to win at Napoli for anyone. We faced the match with great personality and this will give us more self-confidence and belief. We need to carry on like this.”

Before Inter leading the game in the thirteenth minute, Napoli had their own chances. However, they failed to capitalize and had to pay the price for it. The Big Rom ran from his own half and surged forward to score the 14th goal of the season. Lukaku scored his second goal of the day in the 33rd minute when Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret committed the mistake. The goalkeeper was kinda nutmegged from the shot of Romelu Lukaku.

On the other hand, Napoli tried to pull back the goal but things took a while to capitalize. In the 39th minute, Jose Callezjon’s cross was met by Milik and tapped in the ball. Napoli squandered the chance of equalizing when Pole sent the free header firing wide of the goal.

In the second half, Napoli tried to reduce the deficit but things happened against the run of the play. Matias sent the cross from the right flank to Martinez but Kostas Manolas was able to intercept the ball. However, he laid off the ball to Martinez in the next moment leading to the third goal of Inter and Martinez’s ninth of the season.

Post-match, Gennaro Gattuso told to the media;

“We made decisive mistakes in all three of the goals we conceded,”

“However, we showed we can play football and we need to continue doing that. We have to improve in various areas of the pitch.”