Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table.
No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday.
Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s late kick-off.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Three defeats in one week hurts, and we’re not used to such a run,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said. “It was a very important game, but we lacked a clear head. We need to try and get our energy back, and we’ll go to Barcelona with a lot of respect for this team, but without fear.”
Argentinian Soule stunned the San Siro when he slotted home coolly as the ball ping-ponged around the Inter box in the 22nd minute.
The win moved Roma up to sixth place on 60 points, two off the final UEFA Champions League spot.
In another blow for Inter, they risk being without defender Benjamin Pavard for their upcoming Champions League semi-final first leg against Barcelona after the French international limped off in the 15th minute with an ankle issue.
McTominay lit the blue touch paper in the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona when he ghosted in at the near post to turn Napoli into the lead on seven minutes against Torino.
The former Manchester United midfielder repeated the trick four minutes before the break to send Napoli clear at the top of Serie A on 74 points with just four matches remaining.
The brace brought McTominay’s league total to 11 goals, one behind Napoli’s leading scorer Romelu Lukaku.
“For us it’s keep calm, keep everything relaxed and go game by game, because this game is not important unless we win the next one and the next one after that,” McTominay told DAZN. “It would mean the world as obviously the squad did that two years ago [Napoli won the Scudetto in 2023].”
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