Napoli were two goals up after 63 minutes thanks to strikes from Marek Hamsik and Gonzalo Higuain but had to settle for a draw against Inter Milan as Rodrigo Palacio and Mauro Icardi came to the rescue of the San Siro side. Napoli coach Rafael Benitez said after the game that his players failed to read the situation properly and slipped up in the final moments of the game.
Napoli missed a golden chance to close the gap against second placed Roma on Sunday. Marek Hamsik and Gonzalo Higuain had put them in a comfortable lead in the first half but Inter Milan made a brave come back in the later stages of the game.
Napoli coach Rafa Benitez was seemingly disappointed with the result but said that he is not annoyed with his players.
“I am not annoyed,” Benitez said. “We faced a great team like Inter Milan and the team turned in a great performance.
“We gave everything and created so much but we just failed to manage the situation properly in the final minutes. Our goal must be to continue playing like this and creating so many goal scoring chances.
“Napoli pleased me but Inter have great qualities too and we made a mistake with the penalty.”
Meanwhile, thanks to the goals from Palacio and Mauro Icardi, Inter Milan made a memorable come back in the second half. And coach Roberto Mancini was full of praise for his players, especially Icardi.
“Icardi is a brave boy and that is part of his strength,” Mancini told Sky Sport Italia.
“I don’t think I’ve ever even tried a penalty like this. Luckily, though, I didn’t see it live, as I wasn’t watching at the time!”
However, the Inter Milan boss also rued the wastefulness of his players in the possession against Napoli.
“We were playing against a Napoli side that have great attackers and it is normal to concede something,” Mancini said.
“However, the problem is that we are conceding when we have the ball, giving it away to a side that cannot wait to go on the counterattack.
“Yet we were 2-0 down and couldn’t understand why. I was happy with everyone’s performance but we still gave the ball away too easily.”