Internazionale – Napoli: Stunning Lautaro Strike Seals Inter Win Over Misfiring Napoli (2-0)

Goals from Danilo D'Ambrosio and Lautaro Martínez wrapped up a win for Inter on a listless evening. Napoli created enough chances to get back into the game after conceding early on, but were unable to apply the finishing touch as they fell behind in their pursuit of Europa League qualification.
Tactical analysis and match report by Manasvin Andra. 

With Inter already looking ahead to next season, this match was a showcase of how far they have come under Antonio Conte and how far they must go to close the gap to Juventus. In this context, Inter trotted out an unusual starting eleven, which nevertheless proved to be effective.

Conte’s 3-4-1-2 shape saw Alessandro Bastoni, Stefan de Vrij and Danilo D'Ambrosio line up as the three center-backs. Ahead of them sat the double pivot Two central midfielders next to each other. of Marcelo Brozović and Nicolò Barella, with Cristiano Biraghi and Antonio Candreva selected as the wing-backs. Up front, Borja Valero supported the strike duo of Alexis Sánchez and Romelu Lukaku. 

Napoli lined up in Gattuso’s trademark 4-3-3 formation. Alex Meret was chosen as the keeper while Mário Rui, Nikola Maksimović, Kalidou Koulibaly and Elseid Hysaj formed the backline. The trio in midfield were Elif Elmas, Diego Demme and Piotr Zieliński. Wingers Matteo Politano and Lorenzo Insigne flanked striker Arkadiusz Milik.

Inter dominate the opening exchanges
The first 25 minutes saw the home side dominate a passive Napoli. With Gattuso’s team content to sit in a 4-5-1 medium block A medium block refers to a team that retreats in their own half out of possession, generally only disrupting their . . .