Serie A: Inter and AC Milan both win as Napoli drop crucial points

(Football news) Inter Milan won 3-1 against Spezia to close the gap between them and their city rivals for the Scudetto race as this was their third victory in a row. After a cagey start to the match, Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic swept the ball home after D'Ambrosio's knocked down the header in his path as he broke the deadlock in the 31st minute. Chances came and went as Inter looked for the crucial second goal, before Argentine striker Lautaro Martinez tapped one into the net in the 73rd minute to put his side well in command. A late goal from Spezia captain Giulio Maggiore ensured a tense end to the game, but substitute Alexis Sanchez's goal put the final nail in the coffin for them. After this hard-fought victory, Inter moved onto 69 points from 32 matches, but still have a match in hand over their rivals as Spezia stayed 15th on 33 points.

Inzaghi told the reporters after the match, "I think it was a victory of maturity. We knew it would not be easy. I did not like the first 10 minutes, we gave them too many opportunities with the ball. But it was an important victory for us.We are creating a lot of chances, helping us to win the last three games, which is huge for our confidence."

AC Milan roared back after two successive draws with a fine 2-0 victory over Genoa which saw them back to the top of the Serie A standings. Without a goal in their previous two league games, the Rossoneri did not take long to get on the score sheet as Pierre Kalulu picked out the Rafae Leao with a perfect cross who calmly side footed the volley home in the 11th minute but Milan couldn’t carry the momentum as they again fell flat in the second half, struggling to find that killer second goal, with Genoa started to grow more confident and was causing problems down the other end of the field

Milan regained some composure and played on the counter as they finally made one count, Brazilian midfielder Messias hammered home an easy goal three minutes from time to seal a very crucial win in terms of the title race. AC Milan secured their first win in three league matches, as they moved to 71 points from 33 matches, two clear of Inter who have a game in hand.

Pioli said, "The tension is felt, the pressure rises. I told the guys that last year there was tension because we didn't know whether we could finish in the top four.

He added "Now the pressure is there but it must lead to positive energies because we are fighting for a goal [the title] that when we started working together we could not have imagined. For many of us it is the first time fighting for the Scudetto but we want to be winning again and this experience will prove useful in the future as well."

Napoli dropped two crucial points against Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma as they drew 1-1 courtesy of Stephan El Shaarawy's last-gasp equaliser. Napoli were heading for a famous victory as they held the lead in a tense clash in Naples for the majority of the match after captain Lorenzo Insigne broke the deadlock with a coolly taken penalty after 11 minutes into the game. The side from Naples who are chasing their first Scudetto since 1990, looked very nervy as they went in search of three points that would have closed the gap on leaders AC Milan, as Roma asserted their dominance and made a flurry of chances.

The home side looked like they had the three points in the bag as they held on as the clock passed 90 minutes, before substitute El Shaarawy broke Napoli hearts in stoppage time, after he fired in a deserved equaliser for the in-form Roma . The draw has left Napoli third in the standings on 67 points from 33 matches, four points behind leaders AC Milan and two behind Inter. Roma stayed in fifth on 58 points having stretched their unbeaten run in Serie A to 12 matches.

"There is a bit of disappointment, as for long stretches we controlled the game," Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti said. "We then faced a strong team that created problems.

"We are sorry for the final result, we had fresh players at the end but we were unable to manage the ball and the goal conceded was highly avoidable."

Mourinho on the red card said "Today it seemed impossible for us to win, [Referee Marco] Di Bello in some moments made me ashamed of being there. There was a red for [Alessandro] Zanoli, he didn't call a penalty against [Nicolo] Zaniolo and then much more. I have had enough, we want a little respect."

Also read: Barcelona fall back in title race after being stunned at home by Cadiz

The other results are: