MILAN - There was a party atmosphere inside the Meazza ahead of the Serie A 2015/16 Week 33 match against Napoli, with the best part of 60,000 at San Siro. Mancini opted for a 4-3-3 with D'Ambrosio, Miranda, Murillo and Nagatomo in front of Handanovic. Brozovic, Medel and Kondogbia comprised the midfield three, with Icardi, Perisic and Jovetic up front.
Inter broke the deadlock inside five minutes. Medel dinked the ball over the visitors' defence, Icardi brought it down with his right before finishing neatly via a lobbed finish with his other foot over Reina and into the corner. The Azzurri responded immediately, Strinic firing in a low cross from the left which Miranda did well to clear. It was a bitty start to proceedings with Napoli earning a couple of free-kicks just outside the box on the flanks but nothing came of them. Inter's full-backs dealt well with the threat posed by the visitors' widemen Callejon and Insigne. Handanovic wasn't called into action until midway through the first half, as he palmed away Hamsik's effort from distance.
Five minutes later, the Slovene was busy once again. This time Allan thumped the ball from range and the keeper leapt acrobatically to tip the ball over the top. Just past the half-hour mark, Gabbiadini earned a free-kick after a quick counter started by Strinic. The Italian stepped up to talk the set-piece himself but the ball cannoned back off the wall. The away team continued to press forward. Allan looked for Gabbiadini but Murillo tracked the run well and slid in to clear.
Ten minutes before the interval and Inter came alive again. First Nagatomo crossed for Medel whose volley was blocked by Koulibaly. Then Icardi broke the offside trap and cut the ball back for Jovetic but the Montenegrin's first-time shot with his left was easily dealt with by Reina. Finally Brozovic bent in a dangerous cross towards his compatriot Perisic at the back post but the wideman was just unable to steer his diving header on target.
San Siro got behind the lads and the second goal came shortly before the interval. Jovetic broke forward through the middle and found Icardi. The captain played a clever through ball with the outside of his boot and Brozovic took it into his stride before clipping clinically past Reina and into the far corner.
There were no changes for the second half, which began with a fearsome tempo. Napoli's clearest chance came after Hamsik picked out Callejon at the back post. The Spaniard went for placement over power and saw his volley skip a whisker wide of the upright. Inter replied with a move which began on the right with Jovetic. Icardi then laid the ball off on the edge of the box for the Montenegrin who spread it wide to Perisic but the Croat's cross was put behind for a corner. Murillo rose highest from the set-piece but was unable to find the target. Inter might have had a third on the hour mark. Reina and Albiol got in a mix-up, the former spilled the ball to Icardi who fed Jovetic and his chip was dropping under the bar until Koulibaly scampered back to head over.
Roberto Mancini's first two changes saw Biabiany and Felipe Melo replace Kondogbia and Jovetic respectively, both of whom went off to a big round of applause. The Nerazzurri dropped the tempo a touch in the last 15 minutes, though it seemed Napoli had nothing left in the tank. The coach then allowed his captain to receive the acclaim of the San Siro crowd, Icardi coming off to a standing ovation with Palacio replacing him on 88 minutes.
After four minutes of added time, Inter's 2-0 win was confirmed. The Nerazzurri move onto 61 points in the table. They will be back in action on Wednesday night at Genoa.
Inter 2-0 Napoli (HT: 2-0)
Scorers: Icardi 4, Brozovic 44.
Inter: 1 Handanovic; 33 D'Ambrosio, 25 Miranda, 24
Murillo, 55 Nagatomo; 77 Brozovic, 17 Medel, 7 Kondogbia (11 Biabiany 68); 10 Jovetic (83 Felipe Melo 76), 9 Icardi (8 Palacio 88), 44
Perisic.
Subs not used: 30 Carrizo, 46 Berni, 5 Jesus, 12 Telles, 21 Santon, 22 Ljajic, 23 Eder, 27 Gnoukouri, 97 Manaj.
Coach: Roberto Mancini.
Napoli: 25 Reina; 2 Hysaj, 33 Albiol, 26 Kouibaly, 3
Strinic (31 Ghoulam 50); 5 Allan, 8 Jorginho (77 El Kaddouri 74), 17
Hamisk; 7 Callejon, 23 Gabbiadini, 24 Insigne (14 Mertens 50).
Subs not used: 1 Rafael, 22 Gabriel, 6 Valdifiori, 11 Maggio, 18 Regini, 19 Lopez, 21 Chiriches, 88 Grassi, 94 Chalobah.
Coach: Maurizio Sarri.
Booked: Nagatomo 14, Jorginho 22, Murillo 33, Perisic 41, Albiol 55, Kondogbia 61, Mertens 73.
Added time: 1+4 minutes.
Referee: Rocchi.
Assistants: Padovan & Manganelli.
Fourth official: Crispo.
Additional assistants: Orsato & Damato.
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