Napoli blows title race open in Serie A

ROME: The Serie A title race is on again after Napoli dealt Inter Milan its first league defeat of the season and only its second loss in the Scudetto in its last 65 matches.

The gap between leader Inter and second placed Roma is now just six points having been 11 three matches ago.

More importantly, possibly, is the manner in which Inter lost its proud record in the 1-0 defeat Sunday.

Napoli was far superior from start to finish and should really have won more handsomely.

Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar gifted Marcelo Zalayeta the winner in the third minute but he was also the reason the score was kept down throughout.

He made a stunning one-handed save to prevent a sliced clearance from Inter center-back Marco Materazzi finding his own net, saved a Zalayeta penalty after he had brought down Walter Gargano and mostly proved a solid barrier to the waves of Napoli attacks.

But Inter has not won in three league matches and have important injury concerns.

First choice center-backs Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba have been lost to long-term injuries while first- choice strike pair Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Julio Cruz are being frustrated by minor niggles.

All of which made coach Roberto Mancini's decision to keep the likes of captain Javier Zanetti, striker Hernan Crespo and midfielders Luis Jimenez and Dejan Stankovic on the bench somewhat surprising when young pair Vitor Pele and Mario Balotelli started.

Despite the defeat, Mancini remains defiant and claims his side is still in the driving seat.

"We still have a nice gap. Even if it's been cut we're still six points ahead of Roma," he said.

"We shouldn't be demoralized, we've got a week to recover. Napoli started strongly but we conceded a goal and that shaped the match, also we didn't offer much up front.

"I was optimistic after the Roma match (a 1-1 draw in midweek) and I still am. They can also lose and not play well."

It was not the only significant result of the weekend as Fiorentina won 3-2 at Juventus courtesy of a stoppage-time winner and moved to within one point of its third-placed opponents.

"Third place? I don't talk about positions," said coach Cesare Prandelli. "We're doing well and and we can keep doing so, you can count on that."

Juve is in worse form than Inter having picked up only one point over its last three matches.

Its coach Claudio Ranieri blamed the result on a lack of maturity.

"We've paid dearly for two moments of naivety," he said. "It's the first time that we've only picked up (only) one point from three matches, we need to react."

Elsewhere, Roma kept up its title push on Saturday as it blitzed Parma 4-0 with captain Francesco Totti celebrating his record 388th league appearance in a Roma shirt with a great goal.

AFP

(China Daily 03/04/2008 page22)