Inter vs. Hellas Verona 1 - 0, Lautaro's goal seals victory
Team
— Jan 14th 20236 MIN READING
The Argentinian's finish after three minutes takes Inter to 37 points. Not a classic game but Onana was hardly called into action.
INTER-HELLAS VERONA 1-0 | LIVE
Scorers: 3' Lautaro (I)
INTER (3-5-2): 24 Onana; 37 Skriniar, 15 Acerbi, 95 Bastoni; 36 Darmian, 5 Gagliardini, 20 Calhanoglu, 22 Mkhitaryan, 32 Dimarco; 9 Dzeko, 10 Lautaro. Subs: 21 Cordaz, 31 Brazao, 2 Dumfries, 6 De Vrij, 8 Gosens, 11 Correa, 12 Bellanova, 14 Asllani, 23 Barella, 33 D'Ambrosio, 42 Curatolo, 45 Carboni, 46 Zanotti. Head Coach: Simone Inzaghi.
HELLAS VERONA (3-4-2-1): 1 Montipò; 27 Dawidowicz, 6 Hien, 17 Ceccherini; 29 Depaoli, 61 Tameze, 14 Ilic, 3 Doig; 30 Kallon, 8 Lazovic; 19 Djuric. Subs: 22 Berardi, 34 Perilli, 4 Veloso, 9 Henry, 11 Lasagna, 20 Piccoli, 21 Gunter, 23 Magnani, 24 Terracciano, 32 Cabal, 42 Coppola, 70 Bragantini, 77 Suleman. Head Coach: Marco Zaffaroni.
Stoppage-Time: 2' - 4'.
Referee: Fabbri. Assistant Referees: Valeriani, Di Monte. Fourth Official: Minelli. VAR: Fourneau. Assistant VAR: Marchetti.
Lautaro's fantastic finish inside 157 seconds was enough to seal victory, after 94 intense minutes of play at San Siro. In front of 70,000 supporters, Inter won in a game they knew they couldn't slip up in, nor take their opponents for granted. Right until the final whistle, Hellas Verona were always in the game, without ever really threatening. With only a slender one-goal lead there was always hope, but a solid Nerazzurri defence was able to hold out and earn three massive points, taking them to 37 points in the table. Attentions now turn to Riyadh.
It was a league fixture taken place between two cup ties: the energy-sapping extra-time finish against Parma on one side, and the excitement of Wednesday's Supercoppa derby clash with AC Milan on the other. In-between, there was the small matter of this vital Serie A game after the disappointment of drawing at Monza last time out. Coming up next was a Hellas Verona side in good health, galvanised by their win over Cremonese and aware of possessing the tools and players to give the home side worries.
To wipe away any doubt about their concentration levels of desire for the win, Inter started the game like a house on fire, battering the visitors from the off with strong attacking play and pushing many men forward. The goal came with less than three minutes on the clock, as Lautaro stroked a left-foot shot perfectly into the far corner, after a good move had been started off by Mkhitaryan involving Dimarco.
Inter were quick to win back possession and occupied much of the visitors' half. Inzaghi's side were always looking to play forward, with Calhanoglu very reactive to start off moves and Mkitaryan and Gagliardini making impressive runs with and without the ball. Chances faell to the home side, but only Lautaro's header called Montipò into action, before Mkhitaryan saw his shot deflected behind for a corner off Hien's arm. At the opposite end of the pitch, the defence were rather untroubled, but when called upon were alert to sniff out the danger, especially from Djuric who received many high, long balls.
The second half was a battle, producing very little on the whole. For Inter, Dimarco found himself in some good positions, Lautaro had a stunning, chipped goal ruled out, with referee Fabbri deeming the forward had fouled Dawidowicz in the buildup. At 1-0, Hellas remained in the game and made several forward-thinking changes that forced some pressure on the Nerazzurri: Lasagne and then Piccoli came on to give them three strikers up top, and only one rule of thumb, play it long for Djuric! For Inter, Asllani replaced a tireless Calhanoglu, who entered the fray in almost perfect fashion coming ever so close to grabbing the second 18 yards out. Onana's only action of the night came from a diagonal ball from Lasagna. The rest of the game was just a case of seeing it out and not letting the nerves get the better of the team.
In fact, nerves of steel and lots of calm was needed in the closing stages. The last efforts by the Gialloblu were balls played in that Darmian and Skriniar cleared away and eventully the final whistle came after 94 hard, battled minutes. Lautaro's goal was enough to put the three points in the bag.
LIVE COMMENTARY
FULL-TIME! INTER BEAT HELLAS VERONA 1-0!
90' Four minutes of injury-time.
89' Goalscorer Lautaro is subbed for Valentin Carboni.
88' Darmian's attempt from distance is off target.
81' Huge chance for Inter: Asllani gets free on the edge of the box and fires one just wide of the post.
80' Final change for Verona, who now have three forwards on with the introduction of Piccoli.
77' Mkhitaryan and Dimarco now make way for Barella and Gosens.
70' Chance! Good play from Lasagna before Sulemana hits one, but Onana puts it behind for a corner.
69' Inter make their first substitutions with Asllani and Correa coming on for Calhanoglu and Dzeko.
68' Hien brings down Dzeko! Fabbri blows for the foul but doesn't book the Verona defender, who is already on a yellow.
65' Triple change for Verona, who go with two up front.
63' Lautaro lobs Montipò to score, but it's disallowed for a foul by the Argentinian on Dawidowicz in the buildup.
57' Verona make the first change of the game: Suleman replaces Kallon.
51' Down the left, Dimarco gets into a good position inside the box but instead of shooting decides to cross for Dzeko, but Hien gets ahead of him and clears.
46' Second half is underway: no changes for either side.
LIVE COMMENTARY
45'+2' HALF-TIME: Inter lead 1-0 thanks to Lautaro's 3rd-minute finish.
45' Two minutes of stoppage-time.
41' Inter close to adding a second! Mkhitaryan drives into the box curls a right-footed shot into the far left corner but it just sails wide, as Hien flicks it behind for a corner for Inter, which comes to nothing.
31' Lautaro spins and hits one from the edge of the box, but it's high and wide .
25' Hellas Verona having more of the possession but haven't created anything of note. Inter are compact and holding their shape well in defence.
15' Good break from Inter with Gagliardini attacking the space. He curls in a great cross for Lautaro who from the penalty spot heads straight into the hands of Montipò.
10' Superb start from Inter, who are forcing the game as a team. After good work from Dzeko, Calhanoglu plays in Lautaro in the area, but Hien does well to save.
3' GOAL INTER 1-0! The ball falls to Lautaro Martinez in the box and he places it perfectly with his left into the right-hand corner.
1' Inter kick off the game.
18.A GIORNATA
Napoli-Juventus 5-1
Cremonese-Monza 2-3 Lecce-Milan 2-2 Inter-Hellas Verona 1-0
domenica 15 gennaio Sassuolo-Lazio ore 12:30 Torino-Spezia ore 15:00 Udinese-Bologna ore 15:00 Atalanta-Salernitana ore 18:00 Roma-Fiorentina ore 20:45
lunedì 16 gennaio Empoli-Sampdoria ore 20:45
CLASSIFICA
Napoli 47* Milan 38* Juventus 37* Inter 37* Lazio 31 Atalanta 31 Roma 31 Udinese 25 Fiorentina 23 Torino 23 Monza 21* Lecce 20* Bologna 19 Empoli 19 Salernitana 18 Sassuolo 16 Spezia 15 Verona 9* Sampdoria 9 Cremonese 7*
*una partita in più