It was given the big build up, and it didn’t disappoint.

Napoli against Inter Milan was viewed by many as the title decider, the ultimate six-pointer.

Could Antonio Conte get one over on his old side with his patched-up current one? Could Simone Inzaghi get a win against a big team this season? Would Romelu Lukaku score against the club he represented twice?

In the end, it felt more like a Napoli win than a draw, such was the manner, and timing, of Napoli’s goal.

Philip Billing’s bundled home equaliser late in the game, with a mere three minutes left on the clock, sent the feverish home support into rapture. 

There is no roof on the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, and the cheer was so visceral, so raw, it could no doubt be heard in Spaccanapoli some 7 km away.

The 1-1 draw does little for either side in the Scudetto hunt, and it leaves both sides as they were before the evening game commenced. If anything, Billing’s first career Napoli goal keeps Inter close enough to overtake on the home straight.

Indeed, Conte will be pleased with how his side reacted after going 1-0 down to a divine free-kick from Federico Dimarco.

Dimarco, who possesses arguably the best left-foot in the world other than Lionel Messi, bent in an exquisite set piece that left Napoli stopper Alex Meret with no chance. The Italian was completely rooted to the spot, powerless to stop the ball from floating into his top left-hand corner,

What was ironic about the free-kick was that it was given at the expense of a potential penalty claim from Inter, when Scott McTominay clumsily bundled over Denzel Dumfries inside the box.

Referee Daniele Doveri instead gave a free-kick, and Dimarco did the rest.

This played into Inzaghi’s hands as Inter essentially sat back and allowed Napoli to attack, 3-5-2 against 3-5-2.

The reigning champions nulified Napoli for most of the game. Everything was in front of Francesco Acerbi, Yann Bisseck and Alessandro Bastoni, and very little got past them – an impenetrable wall.

Napoli picked up their game in the second half, and McTominay’s rasper of a shot stung the gloves of Josep Martinez, who was impeccable.

Billy Gilmour, who was a surprise inclusion by Conte in the middle of the park, gave a superb performance in midfield, passing between Inter lines in an attempt to feed Giacomo Rasdpadori and Lukaku in attack.

Gilmour hadn’t started in the league for Napoli since, coincidentally, the 1-1 draw with the Nerazzurri in early November. Yet you wouldn’t have known he’s only played 20 minutes in the league since on the basis of his performance.

The young Scot was outstanding, alongside Stanislav Lobotka and McTominay.

Following the goal, the away side ventured forward little, and Meret didn’t have a save to make in the encounter.

Inzaghi didn’t try to outsmart Conte tactically, it became essentially a game of defence against attack. Break us down if you can, went the thinking.

And in truth Napoli struggled. The game wore on and Napoli became hasty, attempting to rush attacks or picking the wrong options time and again, leaving the home crowd exasperated. 

Moreover, Napoli’s corners, most of them taken by the disappointing Raspadori, ended in serial groans from the audience.

Yet the pressure finally paid off, and Lobotka was at the heart of it.

The Slovak, the only original member of the title-winning midfield on the pitch, went on one of those classic Lobotka runs. 

He ghosted past one Inter player, then another, and weaved his way into the box. He could’ve shot, but instead decided to lay the ball off to his right and into the path of Billing, who’d made a surging run into the box.

The midfielder’s first shot was weak, but Martinez couldn’t push the ball out far enough.

The Dane’s second shot was even weaker, but with the Swiss stopper on the ground, the ball slowly trickled into the net. 

Cue absolute euphoria from the 54,000 people inside the Maradona.

The wind was now in Napoli’s sails, but it was a race against time to get a winner. They threw everything at Inter in the hope of securing three massive points, but in the end a point apiece was the end result.

Napoli fans left the stadium with smiles on their faces. A negative was turned into a positive, and Conte will be delighted for how his side continued plugging away at Inter until the final moment.

He’ll also be impressed with Gilmour’s display, while Billing’s goal will have earned him cult hero status for the remainder of his time in Italy.

With Napoli now facing Fiorentina and AC Milan in the coming weeks, the big games keep on coming. But Conte will know that if they perform in those games like they did against Inter, then victories should be forthcoming.

For Inzaghi and Inter, it was yet another big game in which they failed to win. Dimarco’s free-kick illuminated a stadium used to seeing genius from a left foot.

It was a free-kick the man himself would’ve been proud to call his own.

The title race is as we were. With Atalanta also dropping points, does anyone want to win it? 

Here’s what our colleague Claudio D’Amato thought post-match (warning: the interview is conducted in Italian).