Napoli's late equalizer keeps Inter from pulling away in Serie A title race

MILAN (AP) — Napoli substitute Philip Billing stopped Inter Milan from taking a significant step toward retaining the Serie A title on Saturday.

Billing scored in the 87th minute to secure a 1-1 draw for Napoli against the league leader and defending champion.

Inter remained top of the table, just one point above Napoli and three above Atalanta, which drew 0-0 at home to relegation-threatened Venezia.

"It feels unbelievable. This is what you dream of, in a game like this," said Billing, who was playing his second match for Napoli after joining on loan from Bournemouth. "And to be fair, you dream of it, but I couldn't really have thought of it. You know, you come on and you just try to do your best."

Napoli had failed to win any of its previous four matches, allowing Antonio Conte's former team to overtake it at the top of the table.

Inter took the lead in Naples in the 22nd minute as Federico Dimarco floated a free kick over the wall and into the top left corner.

Romelu Lukaku, who had two spells at Inter, had two chances to equalize shortly afterward but sent one effort into the sidenetting and had another deflected away by defender Alessandro Bastoni's block.

Just as it seemed as if Inter was on course for a potentially crucial victory, Napoli leveled with three minutes remaining.

Stanislav Lobotka played a one-two with Scott McTominay on the left flank before running into the area and rolling the ball across for Billing, who had come on less than 10 minutes earlier.

Billing's first attempt was parried by Inter goalkeeper Josep Martínez but came straight back to the Denmark midfielder and he tucked the rebound into the bottom right corner.

"To be fair I missed the first one, good save maybe. And so I thought now, I have to score," Billing said with a smile. "And my reaction to it, I didn't really know what to do, to be honest. I'm very, very happy."

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