Inter Milan's title hopes slipping away after shock loss to Spezia 

Inter Milan suffered a major setback in their pursuit of catching runaway Serie A leaders Napoli as they were stunned by relegation-threatened Spezia with a 2-1 defeat on Friday. Despite Romelu Lukaku's equaliser from the spot, Spezia's goals from Daniel Maldini and M'Bala Nzola's penalty proved enough to secure their first-ever victory against Inter.

Currently, Napoli sits comfortably at the top of the league with a 15-point lead over Inter before their upcoming match against Atalanta. Inter remains second with 50 points, just two points ahead of Lazio, who will be facing Bologna. AS Roma and AC Milan are closely following Inter, standing three points behind them before their respective games against Sassuolo and Salernitana.

Inter had an early chance to take the lead when Danilo D'Ambrosio was fouled by Mattia Caldara, resulting in a penalty after a VAR check. However, Lautaro Martinez's attempt was saved by Spezia's goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski.

In the second half, Spezia seized the opportunity and scored the opening goal ten minutes after the break, with Maldini finding the net. Inter was then awarded another penalty in the 83rd minute after Denzel Dumfries was fouled, and this time Lukaku scored without any issues. However, Nzola's penalty in the 87th minute ended Inter's hopes of a comeback, securing a crucial victory for Spezia.

The win helped Spezia's fight to avoid relegation, as they now sit six points above the bottom three in 17th place.