Calhanoglu 2.0 lives up to his big talk and destroys Mazzarri’s Napoli revival

Photo: Ciro de Luca/Reuters

This would be a difficult week for Inter, as he would leave for champions Napoli on Wednesday evening after a match in Portugal. After leading Serie A for most of this season, they were overtaken on Friday by the same Juventus team that had held them to a draw the Sunday before. The only way back to the top was to win on a ground where they had done so once in their last seventeen league visits.

No problem. Hakan Calhanoglu broke the deadlock before half-time, Nicolò Barella added a second just before the hour and Marcus Thuram secured a 3-0 victory. The evening ended with the Frenchman turning his Inter shirt over his head: a tribute to his idol Adriano’s iconic celebration after scoring a winning goal in the Milan derby in December 2005.

It wasn’t really as simple as the synopsis would make it sound. Napoli, revived by the appointment of Walter Mazzarri to replace Rudi Garcia as manager earlier this month, started the match well. Eljif Elmas made a full save from Yann Sommer in the third minute and Matteo Politano rattled the crossbar. Approaching the break they were the better team.

And then Inter took the lead with a goal that was as sparkling as it was controversial. Lautaro Martínez appeared to foul Stanislav Lobotka after losing control of the ball in the middle of the pitch. He put his arm around the Napoli player’s waist to make sure they both went to the ground. Possession went to Barella, who released Thuram into space on the left. He passed to Federico Dimarco, who crossed to Denzel Dumfries, who headed back to Barella on the edge of the penalty area. The Italian served a nonchalant tap to Calhanoglu, who drilled a half-volley into the bottom corner from the top of the D.

Even after ousting a brilliant player like Marcelo Brozovic from Inter’s starting XI, it can feel like Calhanoglu isn’t getting the recognition he deserves. He was mocked in some quarters after saying in March that he considered himself one of the “best five in Europe” in his position, insisting “I am not far from De Bruyne or Modric” but backing that up words through a central role in his team’s run to the Champions League final.

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Calhanoglu is Inter’s second top scorer. Although his last six goals before this all came from the penalty spot, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that his 18 goals from outside the penalty area since 2018 are second only to De Bruyne (19). He has also made more tackles per game than any Inter teammate this season.

He was number 10 for much of his career and was withdrawn by Simone Inzaghi to operate in defense. “You’re not used to seeing me like this, but I’ve always been hungry to help my team,” he told Sky Sport on Sunday. “It’s not easy to switch trequarista Unpleasant register but I did a lot of video analysis and the staff here helped me. I have taken a few more bookings, but that happens in this role.”

He avoided adding another in Naples, but this was a charmed evening for his team on the disciplinary front. In the 58th minute, Francesco Acerbi appeared to step on Victor Osimhen’s heel as they collided in the penalty area. Once again, referee Davide Massa allowed play to continue. The lack of a whistle allowed Napoli to almost score, with the ball breaking to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who forced a brilliant save from Sommer at the keeper’s near post.

But once again the match would go against the hosts on the heels of a costly missed decision. Barella’s goal came four minutes later. Martinéz found him with a square ball to the edge of the penalty area, before the Italian superbly slalomed through the challenges of Leo Østigard and Natan to score.

Even after that, Napoli still carried a threat. It is still too early to judge Mazzarri’s second spell as Napoli manager, but early indications are that he has restored the sense of freedom to his team that was lost under Garcia. Kvaratskhelia wandered through the attack, sometimes switching completely from left to right.

Perhaps a pushback in the opposite direction will eventually be necessary. By the time Thuram completed the scoring, converting Juan Cuadrado’s cross from close range, Napoli had conceded seven goals in five days. The fixture list is unlikely to serve Real Madrid and Inter in back-to-back matches again, but this has been a cleansing week for a team whose hopes of retaining the title already appear to be coming to an end.

The defeat left Napoli 11 points behind the leader. Their home form has been terrible, with just two wins and one draw in seven games at the Stadio Diego Maradona. Mazzarri did not speak to reporters all the time and wisely decided it was better not to comment on refereeing decisions he might regret. “We want him on the bench,” said sporting director Mauro Meluso, who appeared in his place. “Mazzarri preferred not to come to the press conference to ensure that there were no statements that could lead to disciplinary problems.”

Everyone has their own approach to such matters. Earlier on Sunday evening, José Mourinho – who has spoken fluent Italian at press conferences since first arriving at Inter in 2008 – returned to Portuguese for an interview about Dazn, saying his Italian was not “polished” enough to avoid misunderstandings . He has been investigated by the Italian Football Federation for expressing doubts ahead of Roma’s match against Sassuolo as to whether the referee, Matteo Marcenaro, had the “emotional stability” to take charge of such a match. to take. Mourinho’s team went on to win the match 2–1, extending their strong recent form to match fourth-placed Napoli.

The battle for places in the Champions League is already becoming fierce, with just four points separating Roma from Lazio’s Napoli in ninth place, although it may be too early to worry about such details. If Inter look like early title favorites, their strength is better reflected by another set of figures: those that show they have scored 33 goals and conceded just seven in fourteen matches.

Monza 1-2 Juventus, Milan 3-1 Frosinone, Lazio 1-0 Cagliari, Genoa 1-1 Empoli, Napoli 0-3 Inter, Sassuolo 1-2 Roma, Udinese 3-3 Verona, Fiorentina 3-0 Salernitana, Lecce 1 -1 Bologna

This is a marked improvement from last season, when they had scored 20 goals at the corresponding stage. Even more remarkable is the fact that they are doing so while dealing with a defensive injury crisis that has already robbed them of Alessandro Bastoni and Benjamin Pavard before Stefan de Vrij and Dumfries limped out of Sunday’s match.

Juventus will have another chance to increase the pressure next weekend and will play Inter again on Friday evening. Their opponents are Napoli, who travel to Turin looking for a positive result to revive their title defense.