De Bruyne scores and limps off as Napoli beat Inter to move top
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NAPLES, Italy - Napoli secured a 3-1 home victory over Inter Milan on Saturday in a heated Serie A clash as Kevin De Bruyne converted a penalty before going off injured before Scott McTominay and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa completed the win.
Napoli moved top of the table on 18 points, one ahead of AC Milan, who were held to a draw by Pisa on Friday. Inter sit third, level on 15 points with fourth-placed AS Roma.
After a quiet start to the game, Inter’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave away a penalty after half an hour for tripping Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
De Bruyne calmly converted it before clutching the back of his right thigh. His teammates consoled him as he grimaced and left the pitch before returning to the substitutes' bench with crutches.
In the second half, the atmosphere at Stadio Diego Maradona heated up. McTominay doubled Napoli’s lead in the 54th minute with a precise finish, latching on to a perfectly delivered long ball from Leonardo Spinazzola.
Afterwards the Scot admitted he was not expecting such a delivery from Spinazzola.
"I lost the ball in the lights, so the pass took me by surprise, the lights are so bright I couldn’t see it. Then I just thought to shoot," he told DAZN.
"Leo (Spinazzola) is a top player, he put in some great passes this year, now we need to find that consistency so we can continue to push."
Hakan Calhanoglu pulled one back for Inter from the penalty spot in the 59th minute after Alessandro Buongiorno was penalised for handball.
Moments later, a heated scuffle broke out on the touchline, earning Napoli manager Antonio Conte a yellow card as he exchanged hand gestures with the Inter players.
In the 66th minute, Zambo Anguissa produced a moment of brilliance, driving forward on a counter-attack and holding off the Inter defence before calmly slotting home Napoli’s third.
De Bruyne's injury added to Napoli’s growing list of absentees, which includes Rasmus Hojlund, Stanislav Lobotka and goalkeeper Alex Meret.
"Perhaps someone has cursed us, but we keep going anyway," Conte said in regard to his side growing injury list.
"I live the game with my players, for good and bad, and we played against in my view the best squad in Italy." REUTERS
