Inter Milan put one hand on the Serie A title on Sunday after coming back from two goals down to win 4-3 in a thrilling match at Como and move nine points clear of Napoli, who could only draw 1-1 at Parma.
Trailing by two in the dying moments of the first half due to goals from Alex Valle and youthful virtuoso Nico Paz, Inter looked set to give champions Napoli hope their Scudetto defence might still be alive.
But Marcus Thuram brilliantly poked home Nicolo Barella’s cross in stoppage time at the end of the opening half before the France forward pounced on a mix-up between Como goalkeeper Jean Butez and defender Marc-Oliver Kempf to loop home the leveller moments after the break.
Denzel Dumfries bulleted home Hakan Calhanoglu’s perfectly-delivered free-kick in the 58th minute and then completed the turnaround at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia by coolly guiding home Manuel Akanji’s knock-down 14 minutes later.
With six matches remaining in the season Inter now have a near-unassailable lead at the top of the table, while Como’s first defeat in two months left them outside the Champions League positions.
Pressed by DAZN into declaring that the title was already sewn up, Inter midfielder Barella simply said “let’s wait a little while”, and Dumfries was equally evasive.
“Today was a great win but every match counts and we have to stay focussed,” said Dumfries, who has missed a huge chunk of this season with injuries.
Como battled to the end with Lucas Da Cunha’s late penalty, for a soft foul on Paz by Ange-Yoan Bonny, nearly being followed up by a last-gasp leveller when Alberto Moreno smashed the crossbar from close range.
“Today my team showed me that we’re capable of and played with desire and courage,” said Como coach Cesc Fabregas.
“Yes we made mistakes. We’re a young team, and when you do, these teams will punish you. That’s the way it is.”
Juventus have taken Como’s place in the top four of Italy’s top flight, a disappointment after a superb first half in which Paz was the star of the show with a brilliant 11th goal of the season and the saved shot which led to Valle’s opener.
Como have never played European football and were in Italy’s third tier when acquired by tobacco giant Djarum seven years ago.
– Napoli slip –
Scott McTominay’s drilled finish on the hour mark gave Napoli a draw at Parma which now looks almost certain not to be enough for a third league crown in four seasons.
Antonio Conte’s team were on the back foot within 36 seconds, which was how long it took for Gabriel Strefezza to race on to Nesta Elphege’s knock-on and beautifully curl home Parma’s opener.
Napoli struggled to break down the hosts who were content to sit deep and soak up the pressure and deny the away team a sixth straight league win even after McTominay’s equaliser.
Last weekend’s win over AC Milan had reopened the prospect of retaining the title but Sunday’s results mean Inter would have to completely collapse to allow Napoli a sniff of the title.
“If you concede a goal after 30 seconds it’s inevitable that a match which was already going to be against a deep-lying team was going to become even more like that,” said Conte.
“They rightly put up the barricades and tried to hit us on the counter… in the end I can’t really criticise the team for their desire and commitment.”
Parma are level on 36 points with Genoa, who also took a step towards safety with a tumultuous 2-1 win over Sassuolo in the day’s early fixture.
Both teams were down to 10 men for the second half following a tunnel bust-up between Genoa midfielder Mikael Ellertsson and Italy international Domenico Berardi.
Caleb Ekuban tapped home Genoa’s winner with six minutes remaining in front of a typically passionate crowd at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, who watched their team move nine points away from the relegation zone in 13th.
