With little between the teams in the opening exchanges, the first half burst into life around the half-hour mark.
A sumptuous flick around the corner from Frank Anguissa found Giovanni Di Lorenzo in a dangerous position in the box, and he was bundled to the ground by Henrikh Mkhitaryan. There was a five-minute wait for a VAR check, and although Kevin De Bruyne had the mental strength to stay calm and tucked the penalty away, his body couldn’t hold up as he hurt his hamstring in the process and had to be subbed immediately.
Cristian Chivu’s side responded superbly, as they mounted attack after attack in search of an equaliser.
Both Denzel Dumfries and Francesco Acerbi were unlucky as they saw headers clip the woodwork, and Napoli were able to hold on to take their lead into half-time.
Inter’s attacking energy continued into the second half, but they were undone by a piece of magic from Scott McTominay shortly after the restart. It looked like the chance had gone as a long ball didn’t have the pace to send the Scotsman through on goal, but he remained calm and swivelled to smash a bouncing volley past Yann Sommer.
The visitors needed an immediate response, and they got it moments later after Alessandro Buongiorno was penalised for a handball in the box following a VAR review. Hakan Calhanoglu kept his calm to send Vanja Milinkovic-Savic the wrong way and halve the arrears.
However, yet again, a piece of individual brilliance from Napoli extended the lead before the visitors could find an equaliser. Anguissa showed all of his class and pace to drive towards the box, committing defenders, before taking a second to pick his spot and slamming the ball past the helpless Sommer.
That proved to be enough to put the game to bed, and maintain Napoli’s 100% record at home this season with five wins across all competitions. The victory also lifts Antonio Conte’s men three points ahead of fourth-placed Inter to move to the top of Serie A, one point clear of AC Milan.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Frank Anguissa (Napoli)
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