Handanovic saves Inter blushes; Lazio edge Napoli as Sampdoria drub Brescia

A late penalty save by Inter Milan’s Samir Handanovic secured a point for the Serie A leaders against Atalanta in a 1-1 draw at San Siro on Saturday.

Lautaro Martinez had fired Antonio Conte’s side in front after four minutes but Robin Gosens levelled for the visitors with 15 minutes remaining.

Atalanta had a golden chance to snatch all three points from the penalty spot with two minutes of regulation time remaining, but Handanovic dived to save Luis Muriel’s spot kick.

Inter are top of the table on 46 points from 19 games at the midway stage of the season, but second-placed champions Juve can overtake them by beating AS Roma away on Sunday.

Atalanta remain in fifth place on 35 points, level with fourth-placed Roma.

“Looking at the table, seeing us up there, we might turn a blind eye to some issues, but the fact remains I pray we don’t have any players missing, otherwise there’s no cover,” Conte told DAZN.

Inter started with intent as Romelu Lukaku fired a shot against the post inside a minute and they were soon ahead as Martinez exchanged passes with the Belgian before rifling in a low shot.

Atalanta were furious when Rafael Toloi appeared to be pulled down by Martinez inside the box as he tried to tap the ball home from close range, but the referee ignored the appeals and there was no Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervention.

Replays suggested Martinez had intentionally grabbed the defender’s leg to trip him, and Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini was not happy with the decision after the game.

Atalanta pushed for an equaliser after the break as substitute Ruslan Malinovskyi’s shot came back off the post just moments after his introduction in the 53rd minute.The visitors’ pressure paid off though when a deflected Josip Ilicic shot was headed into the path of Gosens, who directed a shot home at full stretch at the back post.

Alessandro Bastoni gifted Gasperini’s side the chance to grab a late win when he bundled over Malinovskyi in the area but Handanovic guessed correctly to palm away substitute Muriel’s spot kick.

The save continued the Slovenian’s excellent record from penalties — he has saved 24 of the 70 spot kicks he has faced in Serie A, a 30 percent success rate.

Meanwhile, Lazio consolidated third position, four points behind Inter, with the league’s top scorer Ciro Immobile scoring the only goal against Napoli to stretch his side’s winning streak to ten games.

Lazio extended their winning streak to a club record of ten games as they inflicted a second consecutive defeat on Serie A runners-up Napoli thanks to a blunder from goalkeeper David Ospina with eight minutes to go.

Colombian international Ospina was caught in possession inside his own box allowing Immobile to tap in his 20th goal in 19 games to the delight of the home crowd as the club marked their 120th anniversary.

Lazio are chasing their first Scudetto since 2000.

Sampdoria fought back to beat fellow struggler Brescia 5-1 and inch five points above the relegation zone.

Brescia, who remained a point from safety, took the lead through Jhon Chancellor.

But Karol Linetty scored and set up the other for Jakub Jankto to put Samp ahead at the break.

Mario Balotelli thought he had leveled for Brescia but he was offside. He also missed several other chances. Sampdoria extended their lead with a Fabio Quagliarella penalty after Brescia defender Massimiliano Mangraviti was judged to have handled the ball.

Agencies



Italian League results on Sunday:

Udinese 3 (Okaka 14, Sema 68, De Paul 90+1) Sassuolo 0

Torino 1 (Berenguer 11) Bologna 0

Sampdoria 5 (Linetty 34, Jankto 45+3, Quagliarella 69-pen, 90+2, Caprari 77) Brescia 1 (Chancellor 12)

Fiorentina 1 (Pezzela 82) SPAL 0