Napoli coach Antonio Conte voiced his frustration after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Genoa, a result that allows Inter Milan close the gap on the leaders to a point after the Nerazzurri beat Torino 2-0 earlier in the day.
Speaking after the match, Conte was let down by Philip Billing in the action that led to Genoa’s equaliser and expressed further frustration at dropping points at a crucial stage of the Serie A season.
“Genoa had two shots on goal and scored both. These things happen too in football, when you concede a goal, you could’ve always done something better,” Conte told DAZN. “It’s disappointing, because we deserved to win for all that we created, so there remains bitterness and regret.”
Conte added, “It irritates me not to win at the start of the season, let alone three games from the end. But this is football, it happens. (Philip) Billing had come on to improve our aerial capabilities and deal with these situations, but the cross went over him for the equaliser.”
The former Chelsea and Juventus boss did praise his players, saying, “I could not have asked for more from my players, as they had 22 shots on goal, 11 of them on target, dominated possession, and in the end it was a draw. We must improve in these situations.”
On the title race, Conte said: “We did not deserve to drop these two points, but at the same time we must remember we’ve lost the bonus that we had. We needed seven points from three rounds to win the title, now we need six points from two if we want to win the Scudetto, which would still be something incredible.”