M’Bala Nzola’s late penalty penalized the extravagant Inter and gave Serie A fighters Spice a shock 2-1 victory on Friday.
The Nerazzurri’s wan title hopes certainly ended after their first loss to relegation-threatened Spezia at the Alberto Picco Stadium.
Bartlomiej Dragovski saved an early Lautaro Martínez penalty and it was a sign that toothless runners-up Inter dominated most of the game but lacked edginess.
Daniel Maldini, on loan from fierce Inter rivals Milan, gave La Spezia the lead just under 10 minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute, but Romelu Lukaku’s late penalty appeared to save the point.
Nzola had the last word, scoring a goal from 12 yards after Denzel Dumfries pulled over Viktor Kovalenko to keep Inter 15 points behind runaway leaders Napoli.
Martínez missed a great opportunity to put Inter ahead in the 14th minute, Dragovski dived to the left to avoid a penalty after referee Livio Marinelli belatedly pointed the spot for Mattia Caldara’s foul on Danilo D’Ambrosio after a VAR check which took too much time.
Simone Inzaghi’s men were booked when Kevin Agudelo deflected the ball from a tight angle before spinning and hitting the top of the crossbar.
A busy Dragovski again interfered with Martínez by breaking his shot over the bar after Spezia was caught at half-time, and although the Argentine hit the net immediately after half-time, his header was ruled out due to Lukaku being offside.
Maldini made Inter pay for their extravagance with an impeccable first goal out of the blue after Nzola’s brilliant performance.
Lukaku appears to have spared Inter a blush by scoring his 50th Serie A goal from the penalty spot after Salvador Ferrer was found guilty of a foul on Dumfries following a VAR check.
There was one final twist, however, when Dumfries inexplicably pushed Kovalenko, and the cold-blooded Nzola stepped forward to secure a historic victory in the Battle of Spezia to avoid a fall.