Final score

9 December 2012 20:45

Inter
39' Milito
8' Guarin
2 - 1
Napoli
9' (2nd half) Cavani
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli / Linesmen: Manganelli, Cariolato / Fourth official: Nicoletti / Assistants: Valeri, Giannoccaro
Watch highlights
Minute Text commentary
48' The first half comes to an end: Inter 2-0 Napoli
45' Three minutes of stoppage time
44' Insigne meets Juan Jesus' defensive header with a thunderous volley that zips a foot over the bar
43' Gamberini is booked for running his studs down the back of Milito's leg
39' 2-0 TO INTER! Guarin slides a pass into the box for Milito, who takes it superbly, holds off his man and places his finish past De Sanctis
34' After Inter clear a Napoli corner, Inler has a shot from outside the box: it sails well over
28' Cavani goes for goal with an acrobatic effort from the edge of the box: wide
28' Handanovic is booked for time-wasting
27' Insigne floats a cross over to the far post where Cavani meets it majestically but sends his downward header wide. The offside flag was up anyway
23' Milito and Cassano link up well inside the box but Britos gets a foot in to poke away the danger. Cassano has had to leave the pitch for a moment after getting sandwiched between Cannavaro and Britos in that last challenge
20' The ball takes a double deflection inside the Nerazzurri area and falls for Cavani, he lays off for Hamsik whose attempt is wide of the target
18' Napoli break with Cavani who squares for Insigne, the youngster cuts inside onto his right foot and from outside the box spanks an effort just wide
13' Guarin is on the deck after Behrami floored him with a flailing arm that went unseen by the ref
10' Zuniga is rightly flagged for offside from Cavani's pass
8' GOAL FOR INTER! Cassano's corner finds Guarin making a late run into the box and the Colombian drills a low volley inside the near post
5' Inler tries to pick out Zuniga with a long ball but overhits it
1' Welcome to the Stadio Meazza for live text commentary of tonight's match between Inter and Napoli
1' Napoli take the kick-off to get us under way. FORZA INTER!!!
1' This match marks Yuto Nagatomo's 100th appearance in Italian football and Samir Handanovic's 200th
1' Up front Stramaccioni has gone with Cassano and Milito as his strike pairing
1' Zanetti starts in central midfield alongside Gargano and Guarin while Nagatomo and Pereira are on the flanks
1' Inter line up with Handanovic in goal, Ranocchia, Cambiasso and Juan Jesus forming the back three
Minute Text commentary
49' The ref blows the final whistle. Inter have beaten Napoli 2-1 at the Meazza
45' Rizzoli awards three minutes of added time
45' A Napoli attack ends with Cavani's ferocious strike being blocked by Ranocchia
44' Palacio stops the ball from going out on the byline, cuts back onto his left foot beating two men and fizzes a low drive inches wide
41' Maggio's header is gathered by Handanovic
39' Insigne sets Cavani away down the left, the Uruguayan whips in a low delivery, Pereira slices his clearance and almost scores an own goal
39' Mesto comes on for Hamsik
38' De Sanctis races off his line to beat Nagatomo to the ball following Guarin's pass
33' Behrami plants his studs in Guarin's ankle and the Napoli midfielder, already booked, is given a final verbal warning by the referee
30' Pandev's weak angled effort is claimed low by Handanovic
29' Another change for Inter: Milito makes way for Coutinho
23' Guarin continues to look a real threat: first he just overhits a clever through ball then he fires over with a long-range effort
19' From the resulting corner, Juan Jesus heads wide
18' Pereira fizzes a low, dangerous ball across the six-yard box, Britos puts it out for a corner
16' Behrami is cautioned for a foul on Milito
15' Pandev is booked for protesting
15' Stramaccioni shuffles his pack, Palacio replacing Cassano
14' Maggio's wayward attempt from range goes wide
13' Substitution for Napoli: Dzemaili takes over from Inler
13' Gargano is booked for a foul on Inler
9' GOAL FOR NAPOLI: following a penalty box scramble, the ball hitting the bar and Handanovic saving on the line, Cavani blasts it into the net
8' Inler curls a shot towards goal, Handanovic puts it behind for a corner
6' Cassano enters the box and shakes off Maggio with a series of feints before planting his shot against the foot of the near post
4' Guarin tries his luck from afar, the shot is too high
1' The second half gets under way
1' Napoli have made a change during the break, with Pandev coming on for Gamberini
Zanetti
7.32
7.32
Cambiasso
7.88
7.88
Milito
7.49
7.49
Coutinho
6.01
6.01
Ranocchia
7.83
7.83
Nagatomo
7.16
7.16
Jesus
7.91
7.91
Guarin
8.62
8.62
Palacio
6.34
6.34
Handanovic
7.86
7.86
Cassano
7.3
7.3
Gargano
6.64
6.64
Pereira
7
7
Average rating 7.34
2 shots on target 4
3 shots off target 7
13 fouls committed 14
1 corners 6
4 offsides 3
38% ball possession 62%
Inter haven't scored against Napoli in 345 minutes

Inter have not scored against Napoli in a competitive match since 15 May 2011. It finished 1-1 in the league that day, with Eto'o scoring on 15 minutes. Napoli have not conceded against Inter since then. So the last 75 minutes of that game combined with three victories for the Partenopei in 2011/12 (3-0 away and 1-0 at home in Serie A and 2-0 at home in the Coppa Italia) means the Nerazzurri have now not scored against today's opponents in 345 minutes.

Nagatomo set to make 100th appearance in Italy

Should Yuto Nagatomo feature tonight, he will celebrate his 100th competitive appearance in Italy. His current total of 99 - collected with Cesena and Inter - comprises the following: 78 in Serie A, 4 in the Coppa Italia and 17 in Europe. His debut in Italian football came on 28 August 2010 in Roma 0-0 Cesena in Serie A.

Handanovic to make 200th appearance in Serie A

Samir Handanovic should celebrate his 200th appearance in Serie A this evening. His current total of 199 have come at four different clubs: Udinese, Treviso, Lazio and Inter. The Slovenian made his top-flight debut in Udinese 1-1 Sampdoria on 15 May 2005.

Clash of the two top scorers in 2012

Edinson Cavani and Diego Milito are the two players who have scored the most goals in Italy this calendar year. The Napoli hitman has found the net 38 times, while the Inter forward has struck on 28 occasions.

Napoli haven't conceded a penalty in 22 league games

Napoli are one of only two sides not to have conceded a penalty in Serie A this season: the other side is Chievo Verona. The last spot-kick the men from Campania faced was in Lazio 3-1 Napoli on 7 April, Ledesma making no mistake from 12 yards. The current run is 22 matches.

Coaches meet for the first time

Andrea Stramaccioni takes on Walter Mazzarri for the first time this evening.

Stramaccioni's first meeting with Napoli

Andrea Stramaccioni tonight meets Napoli for the first time in a competitive game.

DA IMPLEMENTARE
wins(54) draws(18) defeats(9)

MILAN – An electric San Siro helped Inter beat the cold and a stubborn Napoli side to edge a hard-fought encounter 2-1. Guarin and Milito grabbed the goals as the Nerazzurri leapfrogged Napoli to move into second place in the standings.

Andrea Stramaccioni's troops took an early lead with a training ground move. Guarin made a late dart into the far side of the box to meet Cassano's corner first time and power past De Sanctis at the near post. San Siro erupted. Napoli tried to muster a fightback and offered attacking threat in the shape of Insigne, Cavani and Hamsik. But six minutes before the break Inter were two up and Guarin was again at the heart of it. The Colombian collected a defensive clearance and played an inch-perfect ball into the path of Milito, who showed poise to bring it under control while holding off his man before slotting past De Sanctis.

In the second period, Cassano had the chance to extend Inter's lead further but was denied by the woodwork. Handanovic then thwarted Inler and conceded a corner, from which Napoli pulled one back. Pandev knocked the ball towards the near post, Handanovic saved, Maggio hit the bar and then had the chance to stab in the rebound but Handanovic pulled off another miracle on the line only to see Cavani sweep home the loose ball. Replays showed Pandev was offside at the start of the scramble but it was a tough call. Napoli went close to finding an equaliser in the 75th minute as Pandev freed Cavani: Handanovic saved, then repeated the feat from Maggio with three minutes of normal time remaining. Two minutes later, Palacio did superbly to keep the ball in play and get his shot away from a tight angle, firing inches wide of the far post. There were to be no more goals. Inter beat Napoli 2-1 and overtook their rivals in the league table, moving up to second place on 34 points.


Inter 2-1 Napoli (HT: 2-0)
Scorers: Guarin 8, Milito 39, Cavani 54.

Inter: 1 Handanovic; 23 Ranocchia, 19 Cambiasso, 40 Juan Jesus; 55 Nagatomo, 4 Zanetti, 21 Gargano, 14 Guarin, 31 Pereira; 99 Cassano (Palacio 60), 22 Milito (Coutinho 74).
Unused subs: 12 Castellazzi, 27 Belec, 6 Silvestre, 17 Mariga, 24 Benassi, 28 Pasa, 33 Mbaye, 41 Duncan, 52 Romanò, 88 Livaja.
Coach: Andrea Stramaccioni.

Napoli: 1 De Sanctis; 55 Gamberini (Pandev 46), 28 Cannavaro, 5 Britos; 11 Maggio, 85 Behrami, 88 Inler (Dzemaili 58), 18 Zuniga; 17 Hamsik (Mesto 84); 24 Insigne, 7 Cavani.
Unused subs: 22 Rosati, 2 Grava, 4 Donadel, 6 Aronica, 8 Dossena, 9 Vargas, 14 Campagnaro, 15 Colombo, 21 Fernandez.
Coach: Walter Mazzarri.

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Bologna).
Booked: Handanovic 28, Gamberini 43, Gargano 58, Pandev 60, Behrami 61.
Added time: 3+3 minutes.
Attendance: 57,374.

starting lineups

Handanovic 1 De Sanctis
Ranocchia 23 Britos
Cambiasso 19 Cavani
Jesus 40 Maggio
Nagatomo 55 Hamsik
Zanetti 4 Zuniga
Gargano 21 Insigne
Guarin 14 Cannavaro
Pereira 31 Gamberini
Cassano 99 Behrami
Milito 22 Inler

substitutes

Castellazzi 12 Rosati
Belec 27 Grava
Silvestre 6 Donadel
Coutinho 7 Aronica
Palacio 8 Dossena
Mariga 17 Vargas
Benassi 24 Campagnaro
Pasa 28 Colombo
Mbaye 33 Mesto
Duncan 41 Pandev
Romanò 52 Dzemaili
Livaja 88 Fernandez