Inter Milan failed to put any distance between themselves and Napoli, in the race for second in Serie A, with a disappointing 2-2 draw against Roma.
Neither Luciano Spalletti’s side nor Carlo Ancelotti’s are in a position to challenge Juventus at the moment, with the Turin club already 11 points clear after 14 games of the season played.
Napoli can close that eight points, if they win against Atlanta on Monday night, and in turn put three points between them and Inter as the campaign approaches its half way stage.
Spalletti will be frustrated that his Inter team could not put the game to bed in the first half, allowing his former club, Roma, to dominate after the break, with a late penalty from defender Aleksandar Kolarov sealing a draw for the home side.
That result means it is just one win from their last three Serie A games, with no away win in all competitions since the end of October.
Late goals have been a curse in recent weeks, with Inter unable to shut out games when they are in front, and this is developing into a worrying habit.
Goals conceded late on against Barcelona and Tottenham in the Champions League has meant that they need to win their final group stage match, and hope that Spurs do not pick up a famous win at the Camp Nou.
There is no major issue with scoring goals, with skipper Mauro Icardi on eight in Serie A and 11 overall so far this season, and Keita Balde Diao is also hitting form with three goals in his last three appearances.
However there are real problems defensively, with just one clean sheet in their last five games in domestic and European action.
In that run of games, Spalletti has only started with the same back four on three occasions, with the quartet completing 90 minutes just twice.
The only survivors from when Inter were keeping clean sheets, to now, are Kwadwo Asamoah and Milan Skriniar, with Spalletti rotating his other defenders, with mixed success.
Sime Vrsaljko, Joao Miranda, Stefan de Vrij, Danilo D’Ambrosio and Dalbert have all seen sporadic game time in this run of matches – a point which emphasises their inconsistency and the fact that Spalletti is unsure of his best defence.
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