Lautaro Martínez's brace completes Inter comeback against Napoli in five-goal second half

Inter produced a second-half turnaround to beat Napoli 3-2 at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, with Lautaro Martínez netting a brace that included a 90th-minute winner from a corner. The hosts trailed 2-0 within three minutes of the restart before Martínez, Marcus Thuram and a half-time tactical shift flipped the match on its head.

The first 45 minutes were tight and largely without breakthrough. Inter held 57% possession and Napoli 43%, but neither side managed a big chance. Inter's first-half expected goals totalled 0.48 against Napoli's 0.38, and the only shot count that hinted at the coming storm was the 10–6 advantage in attempts. A yellow card for the visitors was the only marker of disruption before the break.

Napoli struck twice in quick succession after the interval. Matteo Politano opened the scoring in the 50th minute with a low right-footed finish (xG 0.17), and Rasmus Højlund doubled the lead three minutes later, converting a Giovanni Di Lorenzo assist with his left foot (xG 0.03). Inter's response was immediate. Martínez pulled one back in the 56th minute, meeting Federico Dimarco's delivery with a right-footed strike (xG 0.51). The equaliser arrived in the 82nd minute when Thuram, a half-time substitute, headed home Carlos Augusto's cross (xG 0.04). Martínez then completed the comeback in the 90th minute, turning in a Manuel Akanji delivery from a corner (xG 0.32). All five goals came after the restart.

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Inter manager Simone Inzaghi made two changes at the interval, introducing Curtis Jones for Francesco Pio Esposito and Thuram for Petar Susić. The impact was measurable across every phase. Inter's expected goals jumped from 0.48 in the first half to 2.71 in the second, a swing of 2.23. Possession climbed from 57% to 69%, opposition-half passes rose from 124 to 176, and shots increased from 10 to 19. Set-piece threat emerged where it had not existed before: Inter's first-half set-play xG was 0.07; in the second half it rose to 0.90, a total of 0.97 for the match against Napoli's 0.09. Thuram's winner and Augusto's assist for it both came down the left flank, where the French forward's physical presence stretched a Napoli back line that had absorbed pressure comfortably before the break. Napoli had no second-half answer in dead-ball situations and won only one of their five corners before the interval, none after it.

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Inter's 3-5-2 — three centre-backs, five across midfield, two forwards — compressed the areas Napoli's attackers rely on. Six visiting players registered struggle signals against the shape. Højlund managed only 19 touches with 33.3% pass accuracy and was dispossessed twice before his 72nd-minute withdrawal. Goalkeeper Alex Meret completed 48.4% of his passes across 36 touches, indicating difficulty playing out under pressure. Frank Anguissa registered 75% accuracy with two dispossessions, while Antonio Vergara was dispossessed five times despite completing 91.7% of his passes — a sign that his involvement was high but his carries were repeatedly shut down. Stanislav Lobotka (86.4% accuracy, 36 touches) and Amir Rrahmani (84.2% accuracy, 54 touches) saw their usual distribution muted by the central density Inter deployed. Inter won 58 duels to Napoli's 36, and limited the visitors to 22 penalty-box touches against their own 57.

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Martínez finished with two goals from 1.41 xG, three shots on target and a match-high 9.08 rating. His first goal came from open play, the second from a corner routine that delivered Inter's set-piece goal. The Argentine's movement consistently pinned Napoli's centre-backs, creating the gaps that allowed Thuram's late header and the corner sequence that decided the match. Across the 90 minutes his xG was more than six times Højlund's 0.07, the clearest individual gap on the pitch.

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FotMob.