Ospina shines after gaffe to lead Napoli into Coppa Italia Final

By Nicholas MendolaJun 13, 2020, 5:00 PM EDT
Napoli v Inter Milan recap
Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images
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David Ospina made amends for an early gaffe and then some as hosts Napoli drew Inter Milan 1-1 on Saturday to clinch a berth in the Coppa Italia Final with a 2-1 aggregate win.

Ospina couldn’t handle a Christian Eriksen set piece in the second minute, but the ex-Arsenal man set up the equalizer with a brilliant bit of distribution and made a number of tremendous saves in the draw.

Dries Mertens became Napoli’s all-time leading scorer when he nabbed the equalizer off a Lorenzo Insigne assist, and Ospina made eight saves. He’s scored 122 goals in a Napoli shirt.

Gennaro Gattuso’s Napoli will meet Juventus in Wednesday’s Coppa Italia Final.

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The sides honored medical workers by gathering around the circle for a moment of silence before kickoff, with three masked workers (or representatives of them) at the center.

Eriksen’s early corner kick fooled Ospina and level the tie oh-so-quickly.

Antonio Candreva drove the right side in the 40th minute and chose a close range shot that Ospina palmed away from goal.

Napoli got its goal from Mertens within a minute, as Ospina pinged a fantastic outlet punt to Insigne. The Italian drove the left side and slipped a pass across to the Belgian for 1-1 on the day.

Ospina would make one of his best stops on a delightful Inter interplay between Romelu Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez, and Eriksen, the latter seeing his shot saved before Victor Moses blazed the rebound over the frame.