Inter beaten 0 - 1 at San Siro by Lazio

MILAN - It was a tough night for Inter on matchday 29 in Serie A Tim with Lazio winning in front of 56,000 fans at San Siro. Milinkovic-Savic’s goal in the 13th minute sealed the win for the capital side, despite all the pressure applied by the Nerazzurri throughout. Spalletti’s side remain third in the table on 53 points, two ahead of AC Milan and with a five-point lead over Atalanta and Lazio who have a game in hand against Udinese.

The Nerazzurri started brightly. In the second minute, Politano got away on the right and whipped the ball into the middle, creating some issues for Strakosha. Five minutes later, Perisic received the ball from Politano and hit it hard with his left, Strakosha saved before the rebound fell for Vecino who couldn’t turn home. Inter continued to attack with Vecino narrowly missing the target from outside the box after it took a deflection off Bastos. From the resulting corner, Skriniar fired over after the ball fell to him in the box. Lazio went ahead in the 13th minute from their first real attack. Luis Alberto whipped a cross in and Milinkovic-Savic leapt highest at the far post to convert. Spalletti’s side looked to respond with Keita seeing one of his shots glance off Acerbi and Strakosha was able to save. Soon after, Handanovic was alert to come off his line and deny Milinkovic-Savic who attempted to dink the ball over him. In the 33rd minute, Asamoah played the ball in from the left and Vecino made a dummy but none of his teammates were able to get on end of the loose ball in the Lazio box. The visitors were on the front foot in the 42nd minute when Handanovic made an instinct save from Bastos. The Nerazzurri hit back with a left-foot Keita effort but it hit Strakosha’s body before Handanovic made a great stop at the other end from Luis Alberto with the final shot of the half.

With the second half underway, Inter looked immediately to attack and regain their footing in the game. Perisic was the first player to test Strakosha, while Politano then shot over from a tight angle. The winger was involved once again soon after, with his cross finding Vecino whose header was also saved by the Lazio shot-stopper. Lazio responded 10 minutes after the break, with first-half substitute Caicedo racing into the Nerazzurri area and forcing Handanovic to come out and claim. As the game maintained its high intensity, Politano whistled a fierce strike just wide in the 59th minute before Caicedo’s effort was saved straight after. Spalletti soon opted to send on some attacking reinforcements, with Nainggolan, Candreva and Joao Mario all coming on at different stages and Borja Valero, D'Ambrosio and Keita the players to make way. Come the 85th minute, Bastos very nearly risked an own goal but the Nerazzurri could only get themselves a corner. Despite four minutes of injury time and continued Nerazzurri pressure, Inter just couldn’t find the desired equaliser and Lazio eventually secured the narrow 1-0 win.

The Nerazzurri will now prepare for two tough tests in quick succession, with a trip to Genoa on Wednesday evening followed by a home match against Atalanta on Sunday. Two games which we can’t afford to lose should we seek to maintain our grip on third place.

#ForzaInter forever!

INTER 0-1 LAZIO

Goals: 13' Milinkovic-Savic (L)

INTER: 1 Handanovic; 33 D'Ambrosio (79' 87 Candreva), 37 Skriniar, 23 Miranda, 18 Asamoah; 8 Vecino, 77 Brozovic; 16 Politano, 20 Borja Valero (74' 14 Nainggolan), 44 Perisic; 11 Keita Balde (84' 15 Joao Mario)

Substitutes: 27 Padelli, 5 Gagliardini, 13 Ranocchia, 21 Cedric Soares, 29 Dalbert, 61 Colidio

Coach: Luciano Spalletti

LAZIO: 1 Strakosha; 3 Luiz Felipe, 33 Acerbi, 15 Bastos; 27 Romulo, 21 Milinkovic-Savic, 6 Leiva, 10 Luis Alberto (67' 16 Parolo), 19 Lulic (86' 14 Durmisi); 11 Correa (27' 20 Caicedo), 17 Immobile

Substitutes: 23 Guerrieri, 24 Proto, 7 Berisha, 13 Wallace, 25 Badelj, 26 Radu, 32 Cataldi, 66 Bruno Jordao, 77 Marusic

Coach: Simone Inzaghi

Bookings: -

Addedtime: 2' + 4'

Referee: Mazzoleni

Assistants: Bindoni, Vivenzi

Fourthofficial: Abbattista

VAR: Rocchi, Di Liberatore