Inter beat Napoli 3-2 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Saturday, and the margin came from a comeback built entirely after the 56th minute — a result that owed as much to Cristian Eugen Chivu's half-time substitutions as to the quality of the goals themselves.
The first half produced no goals and ended with Chivu making two changes simultaneously: Marcus Thuram on for Pio Esposito, Curtis Jones on for Petar Sučić. The logic of those moves became apparent almost immediately after the restart, though not before Massimiliano Allegri's Napoli had turned the game on its head. Matteo Politano gave the visitors the lead at 50', and Rasmus Højlund, assisted by Napoli defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo, made it 2-0 at 53'. Inter, who had not conceded more than one goal in either of their two previous Serie A matches this season, were suddenly two down inside the opening eight minutes of the second half.
What followed was the passage of play that defined the afternoon. Inter forward Lautaro Martínez pulled one back at 56', assisted by Federico Dimarco, cutting the deficit to 2-1 and giving the Nerazzurri a foothold. Napoli responded with a double substitution at 62' — David Neres for Politano, Kevin De Bruyne for Antonio Vergara — but the momentum had already shifted. Carlos Augusto came on for Dimarco at the same minute, and it was Augusto who provided the assist for Marcus Thuram's equalizer at 82', levelling at 2-2. Then, in the first minute of added time, Lautaro collected a second goal, this time assisted by Inter defender Manuel Akanji, to complete the comeback and settle the match at 3-2.
Lautaro Martínez is the obvious focus. The Inter forward scored the goal that made the comeback possible at 56' and then delivered the decisive goal at 90+1', both from open play, both arriving when the pressure on Inter was at its highest. His 68' yellow card — collected between the two goals — did nothing to diminish his influence on the outcome. Two goals in a match that Inter were losing 0-2 is a performance that carries weight regardless of context; in the context of a side that has now won all three of their opening matches and scored eight goals in that run, it reinforces a pattern rather than representing an outlier.
Allegri's Napoli will find this one difficult to process. They were the better side for the opening hour, took a two-goal lead, and still lost. The double substitution at 62' — bringing on De Bruyne and Neres — did not pay off. Højlund was withdrawn at 72', having scored the goal that put Napoli 2-0 ahead, which is an unusual decision in a match still in the balance. Napoli also collected two yellow cards to Inter's one, and their defensive shape in the final ten minutes was unable to contain a home side that had found its rhythm. The visitors arrive at this fixture having lost to Como at home in their previous Serie A outing, and this result leaves them with three points from their last three matches.
Inter's standing after two matches — six points, two wins, no defeats, five goals scored and one conceded before today — already marked them as a side in form. This result adds three more points and raises their goals-scored tally to eight across the last three, while the concession of two goals in a single match is the first time they have been seriously tested defensively this season. The fact that they responded to going 0-2 down by scoring three unanswered goals says something about the resilience Chivu has built into this group, and about the depth of a bench that produced both the equalizer and the winner.
A month from now, this match will be remembered as the afternoon Inter were two goals down at home and still won, with Lautaro Martínez scoring twice from behind to make it happen.