Ashley Young makes rapid Inter impact as Serie A title race heats up

On his first weekend playing in Serie A, Ashley Young brought Inter back within touching distance of league leaders Juventus. OK, maybe that’s oversimplifying things a smidge. There were twists and turns galore on a weekend when the top four sides picked up three points between them, scoring fewer goals collectively than Atalanta managed on their own.

Still, let’s begin with Young, and Inter. They were first to act in the title race, with a Sunday lunchtime kick-off at home to Cagliari. It felt like an opportunity to put pressure on Juventus and Lazio before they played at Napoli and Roma, respectively, in the evening.

Young started at right wing-back in Inter’s 3-5-2. Discussing the Englishman’s arrival – as well as that of Victor Moses – at his press conference on the eve of the game, Antonio Conte stressed: “These are footballers who have not played much lately. It will take time to put them back on track.”

In fact, Young needed only 29 minutes to deliver his first Inter assist. Receiving a cross-field pass from Borja Valero outside the corner of the Cagliari penalty area, he drew two defenders before delivering a pinpoint centre to Lautaro Martínez, who headed home from six yards.

Romelu Lukaku bounded over to celebrate, sporting a grin almost as broad as the one he wore while watching Young sing Bob Marley during a team initiation four nights before. Their bond can be an asset to Inter. In the 61st minute, Lukaku needed only a glance to recognise a familiar movement from his former Manchester United teammate. He released Young into the penalty area, but the run was crudely checked by Christian Oliva.

It ought to have been a penalty, but none was given. A quarter of an hour later, Cagliari equalised. Lucas Castro’s dummy bought Radja Nainggolan the space to shoot first-time from 25 yards, and a deflection off Alessandro Bastoni carried the ball in off the upright.

A fortuitous goal, though the 1-1 final scoreline hardly felt undeserved. Inter should have scored more – Lukaku came inches away from restoring their lead at the end of a 40-yard run – but they had given up chances, too, including a Luca Pellegrini effort from Young’s flank.

The 34-year-old had tired towards the end. Conte demands a lot of his wing-backs, expecting them to advance with his centre-forwards at times. It was not Young, though, who cost his team. Several players were guilty of mistakes, and Martínez especially merits criticism for losing his head in injury time – earning a second yellow for protests after a decision against him.

Yet the greatest culprit was Conte. Asked before the game whether the arrivals of Young, Moses and, imminently, Christian Eriksen, might lead him to adapt his tactics, he replied rhetorically: “Would you change something that is working?” Even at the time, it felt an odd response. Inter had only won two of their previous six Serie A matches, drawing the other four.

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Sunday’s stalemate marked the third consecutive game in which they have blown a lead inside the final 15 minutes. An inability to close out matches already cost them dearly in the Champions League, where they produced spellbinding first-half performances, and accompanying leads, at Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund, only to lose both.

Previously, Conte has blamed a lack of experience in his squad. This month’s additions are intended to address that perceived weakness, though we might remind ourselves that Nainggolan – all of two years removed from a Champions League semi-final – is on loan from Inter.

As Conte stormed out of San Siro at full time, refusing to speak to reporters, it seemed as though his team’s title challenge was starting to fade. Instead, this would become a point gained.

The Rome derby also finished 1-1 via some calamitous goalkeeping. Lazio’s Thomas Strakosha was indecisive in the 26th minute, stepping forward to contest a high ball with Edin Dzeko but forgetting to raise his arms and stop the attacker from heading the ball beyond him. It was nothing compared to the error Pau López made on the cusp of half-time.

The ball was looping behind for a corner when the Roma goalkeeper inexplicably tipped it back into a crowded six-yard box. In a panic, he then barged Chris Smalling away from a potential headed clearance. Francesco Acerbi prodded the ball over the line, then took a long second to look around and make sure any of this was really happening before finally running off to celebrate.

Roma could take satisfaction from ending Lazio’s run of 11 consecutive league wins, yet there was frustration at a failure to convert a dominant performance into a victory of their own. They stifled Lazio’s attack more effectively than any other team in the last three years.

And so Juventus were left with a chance to go six points clear. All they needed to do was beat a Napoli team that had lost four out of five league games under Gennaro Gattuso.

They failed. Or rather, Napoli succeeded: thwarting the champions by keeping their lines compact and swamping the middle of the pitch. In the first half, they cut the supply lines completely to Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuaín. After the break, and especially once Miralem Pjanic had been forced off by injury, Napoli went for the jugular.

Lorenzo Insigne – so disappointing for so much of this campaign – became the decisive figure. His shot from 20 yards was spilled by Wojciech Szczesny, and Piotr Zielinski forced home the rebound. Then Insigne volleyed home a second. Ronaldo grabbed a late consolation, but Napoli held on to win 2-1.

Are Gattuso’s team turning a corner? This was their first home win in the league since October, yet they eliminated Lazio from the Coppa Italia in midweek. Either way, this win meant a lot to a crowd who had jeered two perceived traitors – Higuaín and Maurizio Sarri – throughout.

The Juventus manager bears no ill-will. “I’m happy for [Napoli] players who I will share a bond with forever,” he said at full time. “If they can lift themselves out of problems they’ve been having, I’ll be happy for them. Though I would have preferred it if they could have waited one more week!”

Inter and Lazio will be grateful they didn’t. The title race will continue into February, though the pretenders to the throne need to show they can keep their heads as the pressure grows. Martínez is expected to receive at least a two-game ban for his petulance at San Siro, which would cost him the Milan derby. If it becomes three, he will miss a trip to Lazio as well.

At least Eriksen is inbound. Inter need him to hit the ground running, as Young already has.

Talking point

There aren’t enough words to say all I want to about Atalanta here. The best I can do is encourage you to watch the highlights of their 7-0 demolition of Torino.

Better yet, find somewhere to watch the whole 90 minutes, then just keep on doing that every week.

Brescia 0-1 AC Milan, Torino 0-7 Atalanta, Fiorentina 0-0 Genoa, SPAL 1-3 Bologna, Napoli 2-1 Juventus, Roma 1-1 Lazio, Parma 2-0 Udinese, Sampdoria 0-0 Sassuolo, Verona 3-0 Lecce, Inter 1-1 Cagliari