Inter Milan confirmed that their Serie A title defence was alive and well with Saturday’s straight-forward 2-0 win over Verona which took them to within a point of leaders AC Milan.
First-half goals from Nicolo Barella and Edin Dzeko in front of around 60 000 fans at a sun-dappled San Siro made sure that the champions built on their morale-boosting win at Juventus last weekend by moving into second place.
Inter are level on 66 points with Napoli, who host Fiorentina on Sunday, but ahead of Luciano Spalletti’s side in the table thanks to their superior head-to-head record.
Milan meanwhile are at Torino in Sunday’s late match with their two main title rivals breathing down their necks and seven rounds of fixtures to be completed in an enthralling race for the Scudetto.
“This win has given us some continuity after Turin and although there is still some way to go I saw some good signs out there,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi to DAZN.
“We told ourselves that we needed to win otherwise Turin would have been worth nothing and we did it against a team who are very difficult to play against… They’ve made it difficult for a lot of teams.”
The only worry for Inzaghi was a thigh problem for Stefan de Vrij which forced the Netherlands defender off at halftime on his return from a month out with a calf injury, although the coach said it shouldn’t be anything serious.
Verona have never won at the San Siro against either Inter or Milan and were suffocated in a first half which reminded Inter fans why their team were strong favourites for the title right up until early February when they were four points clear having played one game fewer than their rivals.
They still have that game in hand, at Bologna later this month, and will have been further boosted by the way they beat one of the league’s most troublesome teams.
Source: Modern Ghana
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