Salernitana, led by Portuguese coach Paulo Sousa, prevented Napoli from celebrating the title this Sunday, by drawing 1-1 at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium, in a match for matchday 32 of the Italian soccer championship.
After Lazio’s 3-1 defeat against Inter Milan, in the first match of the day, the Neapolitans prepared to celebrate their third title, after the double for the team led by Maradona in the 1986/87 and 1989 seasons /90, but they missed the point.
The Uruguayan Mathías Olivera still put the locals ahead, in the 62nd minute, with a header in response to a corner kick scored by Raspadori on the right, driving the legendary São Paulo crazy, now renamed Diego Armando Maradona.
But, in the 84th minute, Senegalese Boulaye Die sealed the equalizer, with a placed shot, after a brilliant individual move, in what was a huge bucket of cold water for the Napoli fans, who completely filled the stadium.
In the final stretch, the more desperate home team still tried everything to reach the winning goal, but failed, with Salernitana registering, sensationally, the ninth consecutive game to score (2 wins and 7 draws).
Paulo Sousa no longer saw the final minutes from the bench, since he saw the red card at 90+2, apparently due to protests against the refereeing body.
In the standings, Napoli now has 79 points, against 61 for Lazio, who can still lose second place in the league today against Juventus, third, who has 59 and plays from 7:45 p.m. at the Bologna bastion.
If the old wins, Napoli need to win the title in the next round, on Thursday, in Udine, and if that doesn’t happen, equality is enough for the Neapolitans.
Fourth place is occupied by Inter Milan, executioner of FC Porto (round of 16) and Benfica (quarter-finals) in the Champions League, after today’s turnaround in the reception to Lazio.
The foreigners went ahead with a goal from Brazilian Felipe Anderson, in the 30th minute, but, in the final part, a Bis from the Argentine Lautaro Martínez, at 78 and 90, and a goal from the German Robin Gosens, at 83, gave the international victory.
With this result, Inter matched the 57 points of AC Milan (fifth) and Roma (Friday), which drew 1-1 in the transalpine capital on Saturday, with two goals in added time.
In the other games already played today, Sassuolo won 2-1 at home against Empoli, in a comeback sealed with a ‘double’ by Domenico Berardi at the end, and Cremonese drew 1-1 at Verona.
Source: TSF
