Napoli will be squaring it up against Juventus in the final of the Coppa Italia scheduled for June 17.
This is coming from the result of the second semi-final, which was won by the Pertonepei 2-1 on aggregate after playing 1-1 against Inter Milan at the Sao Paolo Stadium.
Although, Inter’s goal was from David Ospina’s howler, which allowed Christian Eriksen’s shot directly from a corner to go past him.
The Colombian, however, proved to be crucial as he helped his team, which has been struggling in the domestic front before the coronavirus-enforced suspension, secures a ticket to the final.
With Napoli 6th on the log with 39 points, Genarro Gattusso’s men at least have a route to securing a Europa League football if they eventually win the cup.
Fabian Ruiz, who scored the only goal of the first leg at the San Siro on February 12, was only fit to make the bench alongside Allan, while Kostas Manolas and Stanislav Lobotka were out injured.
Eriksen rewarded with a good performance as he played a new trequartista role for Inter, with Matias Vecino, Diego Godin, and Danilo D’Ambrosio out injured.
Inter made the perfect start Eriksen put the Nerazzurri in the driving seat three minutes into the encounter through his corner, which glanced over the head of Giovanni Di Lorenzo and David Ospina, who completely misread the bounce, bringing the tie all square on aggregate.
Marek got Napoli level with a recording-breaking strike after Ospina served a magnificent long ball to Lorenzo Insigne, who drew two Inter defenders away and placed a no-look pass for totally the Belgian who was unmarked Mertens to sweep into the empty net.
Mertens has now taken over as the all-time highest goalscorer of Napoli from Marek Hamsik with 122 goals.
Ospina made up for his error with the first goal by putting up an eventful performance to deny Inter on some occasion in getting the second goal, which would automatically knock out the Pertonepei.
Inter deserved the Final
Reacting to the outcome of the game, Inter coach Antonio Conte said his team deserved to reach the Coppa Italia Final more than Napoli over two legs.
He lauded Ospina for his performance, saying: ‘Their goalkeeper was Man of the Match and we dominated.’
Speaking on the two-legged affair, Conte said he had very little reproach for his players because they played the aggressive style of football he wants to see, and they tried to dominate the game.
He added that playing against a quality team like Napoli gives him the belief that Inter can improve their determination in front of goal.
