Enrico Varriale lashes out at two Napoli players

Inter vs. Napoli ended with a last-minute victory for the home team, which managed to win 3-2 only thanks to a goal by Lautaro Martinez in stoppage time—after trailing by two goals until the 56th minute. There was no shortage of controversial calls at San Siro, but also regrets over how the Neapolitan team handled the final half-hour. Enrico Varriale focused precisely on this last point; in his immediate post-match analysis, he singled out two players on Massimiliano Allegri’s roster in particular.

“A huge win for Inter, who came back from a 0-2 deficit to take home the three points and extend their lead to +6 in the standings over an excellent Napoli,” Varriale wrote on social media. “We were expecting a strong performance from Allegri’s team, and that’s exactly what we got. In stoppage time of a wild match, a glaring missed chance by Lucca and Anguissa was followed by the 3-2 goal from the extraordinary Lautaro, who scored a brace. The substitutions highlighted the difference in quality between the two teams’ rosters. Thuram was decisive for Chivu. Lucca’s defensive blunders and the disastrous performance by Badiashile proved lethal for Allegri, who now faces the difficult task of lifting the spirits of a team that came close to a major upset but returns home from the Meazza with no points.”

The match also featured several controversial moments that fueled post-game debate. Among the most debated was the one in the 82nd minute, on Marcus Thuram’s 2-2 goal: the French forward headed the ball past a stationary Meret, while Rrahmani was lying on the ground just a few steps in front of the Azzurri goalkeeper. Referee Simone Sozza did not stop play, ruling that the defender had been knocked down by his own header and not by a challenge from an opponent. However, the Nerazzurri also had reason to protest: Politano’s goal in the 50th minute came after a counterattack in which Barella had appealed for a penalty due to a potential handball by Lobotka. Also worth noting was a failure to call a foul on a play involving Alisson Santos that left Zielinski on the ground, and a yellow card for protesting issued to Lautaro Martinez after a hard tackle by Rrahmani.

The undisputed star of the evening was Lautaro Martinez, who scored the two goals that decided the match. The Nerazzurri captain, who last summer turned down Barcelona’s advances by choosing to stay in Milan, once again proved his worth in the moments that matter most. “My life, right now, is in Milan. I chose to stay at Inter because I’m happy here, I feel valued, and I still have a strong desire to improve,” the Argentine had declared on the sidelines of the Gran Galà del Calcio at La Scala, just a few days before the summer transfer window closed.

For Napoli, this marks their second consecutive league loss following their home defeat against Como on Matchday 2, leaving Allegri’s team stuck on 3 points. It’s been a difficult start to the season, made even tougher by player absences: among the key players missing from the lineup was Scott McTominay, who was sidelined for an ablation procedure to correct a mild, benign arrhythmia. The Scot will also miss the Champions League debut against Arsenal and is not expected to return before October; the club has indicated that his first possible return will be in the home match against Frosinone on October 11.

However, the schedule offers no respite for the Azzurri: their European debut against Arsenal is already set for Tuesday, September 9, at the Maradona Stadium—the very team that, in the final hours of the transfer window, snatched Gabriel Jesus from Napoli, who was sold to Barcelona for approximately 15 million euros. This is a double blow that’s hard to swallow for Allegri, who had identified the Brazilian as the ideal offensive reinforcement to round out a roster that many observers still consider lacking, as evidenced by the 4.5 rating assigned by the Sportal editorial staff to Napoli’s transfer campaign. Indeed, the difference in depth between the two rosters was one of the key elements highlighted in Varriale’s analysis: with their substitutions, Inter was able to shift the momentum of the match, while Allegri’s choices did not produce the desired results.