Inter Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu feels that the Nerazzurri “gave everything” in their Serie A draw with Napoli.
The Turkish international spoke to InterTV after the match, via FCInterNews. He also admitted that it hurts to have missed his first penalty in an Inter shirt in such an important match.
Inter faced one of the most important matches of their season to date against Napoli this evening.
The Nerazzurri and the Partenopei had gone into the weekend as the two teams at the top of the table.
By the time this evening’s match kicked off, all of Atalanta, Fiorentina, Lazio, and Juventus had caught up.
The top of the table currently looks very bunched-up indeed.
This evening’s draw only makes things tighter at the top.
Napoli have remained top of the table by a point as they were at the start of the weekend. But several teams have drawn level with Inter, and come to within a point of the Partenopei.
The draw is hardly disastrous for either Inter or Napoli.
But it is certainly a result that makes things look more competitive and unpredictable than ever in the top places of the Serie A table.
Inter Midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu: “We Gave Everything Vs Napoli”
Naturally, both Inter and Napoli looked very up for this evening’s match.
Even as signs of physical exhaustion started to become apparent, particularly for the Nerazzurri, there was no lack of intensity, and the players were challenging hard for every ball.
After the match, Calhanoglu argued that “I think we played a great match after the one against Arsenal.”
“We were up against a very strong team, and we dominated. The statistics show that.”
“We tried to win, but we weren’t able to,” Calhanoglu said. “But I can’t say anything about the match.”
“In the end I missed my first penalty for Inter, and I’m sorry that it was in a match like this.”
“My numbers are great,” Calhanoglu said of his penalty record. “But I knew it would happen sooner or later.”
The former AC Milan midfielder argued that “This evening we always pushed forward.”
“We took risks because we wanted to win. I think you can see that we were trying for it throughout the match.”
“Playing against Arsenal and then Napoli isn’t easy,” Calhanoglu said. “From the outside it seems like it is, but it isn’t.”
“We gave everything today,” the 30-year-old said.
“Every one of us did our part. We were all on point.”
“But then sometimes the ball doesn’t want to go in, and there’s not much you can do.”
“Maybe if I’d scored the penalty it would’ve been different,” Calhanoglu admitted.