An impressive Napoli display was only enough to earn a point at home to Inter on Saturday evening.
The Nerazzurri took the lead through a stunning Federico Dimarco free kick midway through the first half.
Napoli came into the ascendancy after the break and probed relentlessly for an equaliser, which eventually came three minutes before the end of regular time. Substitute Philip Billing collected Stanislav Lobotka's clever pass in the box and shot first-time: Josep Martinez parried it but the Dane pounced on the loose ball and tucked it home to claim a thoroughly deserved draw for the Azzurri.
Antonio Conte had the following to say after the final whistle:
"We turned in a very good performance and probably deserved more given the way we played. This game, and the one against Juventus, should make us realise that we're in the mix too and we deserve to be up where we are.
“With 11 matches left to go we find ourselves in a league position that we would have taken without a moment's hesitation if we'd been offered it at the start of the campaign. We're reaffirming our position one game at a time. Tonight we were up against a top team that has been put together over time and we showed we can match and better them.
“We played with courage. We got into Inter's faces, pushing them back 50 yards and entertaining the fans. That should make us understand that if we want to, we can.
“We were missing a few players and there wasn't a great atmosphere around us. But we went and changed that atmosphere tonight. We're laying solid foundations which can help us forge ahead.
“I know I have a group of great lads. They realise they messed up the second half against Como but they've been able to find their feet again in just a few days. This performance today can give us self-belief and make us realise that if we want to achieve great things we're capable of it.”
Alessandro Buongiorno spoke at the post-match press conference:
"We were really on the ball today and our mentality was spot on. There are lots of positives to take from this performance in terms of team spirit and character. It wasn't easy to pick ourselves up after the disappointment of the Como game. We managed it tonight. Now we must kick on from here.
“We might even have scored a second goal today after getting the equaliser, but we have to be happy with the performance because it underlines our strength and solidity. We must continue like this and keep improving over the next 11 matches.”
Stanislav Lobotka, who played the killer pass to set up Billing for the equaliser, was also pleased after the match:
“We produced a great showing today. We responded well and deserved to draw. We take a good feeling away from this match. We're happy with the way we performed.
“Conte was egging us on all the time. He told us to keep pushing and eventually Billing's goal came. We wanted to win it but that's football. Now we'll look forward with confidence.”
Giovanni Di Lorenzo shared his thoughts too:
"I think we showed this evening that we're not up near the top of the table by chance. We're a quality team, even though we've had a difficult month results-wise.
“We've been up here for a long time and today we showed that we can compete until the end. No one has given us anything for free and we're aware of our strength. We're pleased with the performance and now we'll focus on putting everything we have into every game, one after another.”
Napoli 1-1 Inter (HT 0-1)
Scorers: Dimarco 22, Billing 87.
NAPOLI: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Buongiorno, Politano (Ngonge 83), Gilmour (Billing 79), Lobotka, McTominay, Spinazzola (Olivera 83), Raspadori (Okafor 77), Lukaku. All. Conte
INTER: J. Martinez; Bisseck, Acerbi, Bastoni (80' De Vrij), Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu (Zielinski 51), Mkhitaryan (Frattesi 80), Dimarco (Pavard 51), Lautaro Martinez, Thuram (Correa 65).
Coach: Inzaghi.
Referee: Doveri (Rome).
Booked: Simone Inzaghi.
