Dzeko serves up Napoli’s first loss as Inter leave no scraps in midweek feast | Nicky Bandini

The mid-season World Cup interruption felt that little bit longer to many Italian football fans, left without a team to cheer for, so Serie A’s organisers opted for total immersion on its return. If you thought four games in an afternoon was a lot during Qatar’s group stage then how about 10, scheduled in pairs to kick off every two hours throughout a regular workday?

Typically, the Italian top flight would return from its winter break on the Christian feast day of Epiphany, 6 January, a national holiday, but that falls on a Friday this year. Playing then would mean giving up the weekend round – unacceptable given the condensed calendar. Returning with an evening round on Wednesday seemed an obvious choice. But broadcast rights pay the bills, so the games started at lunchtime instead.

It did not stop 30,000 fans from turning out to watch Salernitana host Milan just after noon. Rafael Leão and Sandro Tonali put Serie A’s reigning champions two goals up inside a quarter of an hour, before Federico Bonazzoli halved their advantage late on, setting up a nervy finish.

That was just a hint of the drama to come. Tammy Abraham headed off the goalline to preserve a Roma win over Bologna, before Arkadiusz Milik scored a 91st-minute free-kick to steal three points for Juventus away to a Cremonese side who have not won a game all season but twice thought they had taken the lead in the first half.

Celebrations were interrupted the first time by a marginal offside decision – though it subsequently emerged that Emanuele Valeri’s header might not have crossed the line anyway. A second potential goal was denied by a premature whistle after minimal contact from Cyriel Dessers on Danilo. The Belgian would later pick up a yellow card for his dramatic re-enactment of a missed foul against him.

Manolo Gabbiadini scored an overhead kick as Sampdoria won away to Sassuolo, their two goals representing a quarter of the total they have now scored in this campaign. Atalanta came from two down to deny a win for relegation-threatened Spezia. Lecce, in the upset of the day, beat Lazio at the Stadio Via del mare.

But the main event was always going to be the evening fixture between Internazionale and Napoli at San Siro. The visitors arrived as Serie A’s runaway leaders, eight points clear to start the year and the only unbeaten team left across Europe’s top five leagues. They had won their last 11 Serie A games of 2022 and finished top of a Champions League group featuring Liverpool and Ajax.

Inter were 11 points behind them, in fifth, yet had not given up hope of bridging the gap. Romelu Lukaku, in what is fast becoming an annual festive tradition, gave a long interview to Sky Sports reminding everyone how much he loves the club. Asked whether he still believed they could win the title this season, he replied: “Always. This is why we play football. You have to believe in the impossible.”

That his teammates shared such conviction was evident in their first-half performance. Inter let Napoli have possession but nothing else, dominating them physically and tactically. Every time the leaders lost the ball it came flying back their way, Lukaku and Edin Dzeko the twin targets for a series of angled balls over the defence.

The Belgian, who made only four league appearances in an injury-stricken first part of the season, looked slower than his best, but still carved out shooting opportunities for Federico Dimarco and Matteo Darmian before being offered one of his own by Nicolò Barella, who sent him clean through with a spinning backheel flick. All three missed the target when hitting it looked easier.

Fans could be excused for wondering if their team had missed their moment. A Napoli team with 37 goals in 15 games had scarcely created a chance in the first half, Darmian and Milan Skriniar marshalling Khvicha Kvaratskhelia superbly while Francesco Acerbi stuck to Victor Osimhen like glue. How long could it be before players of such quality found a way through?

Long enough. Inter got the goal they deserved in the 56th minute, Henrikh Mkhitaryan serving Dimarco with a brilliant crossfield pass before the wing-back swung the ball into the middle for Dzeko to head home. It was a scintillating piece of football, each of them playing their part to perfection.

The most consistent criticisms of Simone Inzaghi as Inter manager have highlighted the fearfulness of his substitutions, a habit for withdrawing key performers as soon as they pick up a yellow card or when there is a lead to protect. Here he did the opposite, replacing his wing-backs with Denzel Dumfries and Robin Gosens – players more renowned for their attacking work than defensive diligence – daring Napoli to overcommit in their pursuit of an equaliser.

San Siro braced for a fightback that never came. Napoli forced only one real save from André Onana, and even then the Inter goalkeeper would have needed to contort himself to avoid being struck on the chest by Giacomo Raspadori’s 90th-minute attempt.

The game ended 1-0, Inter becoming the first team to beat Napoli, just as they were in the last campaign. It is easy to forget how Luciano Spalletti’s side started 2021-22 with a 12-game unbeaten run, before a winter slump dropped them out of title contention.

Could a repeat be brewing? It is too early to say if this result reflects a loss of focus during the World Cup pause but circumstances are different this time around. Napoli’s collapse coincided with injuries to key players – Osimhen and Giovanni Di Lorenzo among them – who are healthy now. Furthermore, the club has greater depth up front with the summer additions of Raspadori and Giovanni Simeone.

What is clear is that a title race some people believed to be over still has a long way to run. Inter are eight points behind the leaders, but their neighbours have closed the gap to five and Juventus to seven. The Bianconeri, coincidentally, are on a seven-game winning run in the league.

Post-match, Acerbi described it as an “in or out” game for Inter, one in which they knew that nothing less than three points could be good enough. The challenge now is to preserve that mindset. “If we go out and play beneath our standards against Monza on Saturday,, this victory won’t mean anything at all,” he said.

“It’s easy to prepare matches like this. It’s with the little teams that you need to have the same mentality, you need to be continuous and humble. Otherwise, you are a good team but not a great team.”

Serie A served up a feast of football on Wednesday, but as every new year resolutioner knows, it is not what you eat on day one that determines your success in achieving long-term goals.