Thuram gives leaders Inter revenge on Lukaku as Napoli draw with Milan
Marcus
Thuram earned revenge on Romelu Lukaku for Serie A's top dogs Inter Milan with
the decisive goal in Sunday's 1-0 win over Roma, as Napoli came back from two
goals down to draw 2-2 with AC Milan.
Inter lead
Juventus by two points after Thuram guided home Federico Dimarco's low cross
with nine minutes remaining at a pulsating, shrieking San Siro where his World
Cup-winning father Lilian was watching on.
France
forward Thuram was charged with filling the shoes of Lukaku who enraged fans,
his old teammates and the club hierarchy by the way he eyed moves away to Milan
and third-placed Juve, whilst Inter tried to secure a permanent deal from
Chelsea in the summer.
The
26-year-old is repaying the faith Simone Inzaghi has shown in him with five
goals and as many assists in all competitions alongside Lukaku's former strike
partner Lautaro Martinez.
"I
don't think about those things, it was a league match," said Thuram on his
role in replacing Lukaku.
"We
wanted to take three points and we did. I scored and I helped the team win. I'm
happy about that and I'm not interested in anything else."
Lukaku was
given the promised hostile welcome from over 70,000 fans who consider him a
traitor, with thousands of whistles making their way into the stadium despite
police banning their distribution by Inter's hardcore supporters.
Even
one-time friend Martinez barely looked at him as the two teams shook hands
pre-match and ferocious chants calling Lukaku a "shit of a man" and a
"son of a bitch" were frequently belted out.
Missing a
host of starters and suspended coach Jose Mourinho, Roma tried but failed to
hold off Inter and sit eighth on 14 points after creating just one chance all
evening, Bryan Cristante forcing a fine save from Yann Sommer in the 64th
minute.
Lukaku was
barely involved and when he was he looked like the hostile atmosphere was
affecting him.
Inter
meanwhile hit the woodwork at either end of the match through Hakan Calhanoglu
and Carlos Augusto and should have been ahead by the time Dimarco finally found
Thuram, who made no mistake and set off a wave of noise which reverberated
around the San Siro.
And soon
afterwards the whistles aimed at Lukaku gave way to the celebrations between
players and joyous fans who hailed a team that look clear favourites to beat
Milan to a 20th league title.
"Every
match at the San Siro is special," added Thuram.
"Tonight
the atmosphere was amazing, I'm really happy to be able to play here."
Inter's lead
at the summit was extended to two points thanks to Napoli's comeback in Naples,
Matteo Politano and Giacomo Raspadori earning the hosts a point after trailing
by two at half-time.
Rudi
Garcia's Napoli are seven points behind Inter in fourth while Milan trail their
local rivals by three after a hugely entertaining match at the Stadio Maradona.
Milan looked
set to bounce back from a fearful midweek thrashing at Paris Saint-Germain when
Olivier Giroud's headed brace put the away side two in front by the 31st
minute.
Stefano
Pioli's side could easily have been leading by more at the half-time and
Napoli, whose title defence has been unconvincing, were loudly booed off the
field.
However,
Napoli came flying out of the traps at the start of the second half and
Politano made up for a horrendous miss in the opening period when in the 50th
minute he skipped past debutant Marco Pellegrino and Theo Hernandez before
smashing past Mike Maignan.
And after
piling pressure on the Milan goal Raspadori brought the hosts level just after
the hour mark with a superb free-kick which took full advantage of a poorly
placed Milan wall.
The two
teams both went for the win and after Napoli defender Natan was sent off late
on Davide Calabria headed wide a great chance to snatch the win before Khvicha
Kvaratskhelia forced a fine save from Maignan moments before the warm applause
which greeted the final whistle.
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