Inter Squeeze Past Venezia To Put Pressure On Serie A Leaders Napoli
After recovering from a painful defeat in the Italian Super Cup final by defeating struggling Venezia 1-0 and placing second in the table, Inter Milan moved to within one point of Serie A leaders Napoli on Sunday.
The only goal of the game was scored in the 16th minute by Matteo Darmian, giving Inter a point ahead of Atalanta, who were held to a goalless draw at Udinese on Saturday.
After Lautaro Martinez’s shot was blocked by the Venezia goalkeeper and Inter loanee Filip Stankovic, Italy defender Darmian scored his second goal of the season on the rebound.
“We work on raising the pitch, and it’s irrelevant who gets there.” I found myself in the middle of the goal, and thankfully, I was able to score and win,” Darmian said.
With an 82-million-euro ($82 million) transfer to Paris Saint-Germain reportedly in the works, Napoli can increase their lead at the top to four points with a home victory over Verona. However, Antonio Conte will not be without Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has requested to be sold.
However, Inter will have two games in hand, the first of which being played on Wednesday against Bologna and the second of which being played at Fiorentina in December, which was postponed due to Edoardo Bove’s pitch collapse.
After conceding a two-goal lead in the Italian Super Cup final against AC Milan, Inter have struggled to close out games this season. Sunday’s stingy win, their sixth consecutive victory in Serie A, came after Simone Inzaghi’s side struggled to hold on.
Despite having key midfielders Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan out injured and Marcus Thuram, Benjamin Pavard, and Federico Dimarco starting on the bench, the home side dominated and should have won more.
Stankovic, the son of Inter legend Dejan, was excellent between the sticks, and his brilliant save from Davide Frattesi in the 67th minute almost paid off when the post denied Gianluca Busio from the USA and made it all three points for Inter.
The boys were brilliant because we came here tired with a lot of players out, but we played really well, said Inzaghi, “but it wasn’t easy after losing the final the way we did.”
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 , Vieira’s Genoa on the up
❤️ pic. twitter.com/MygACL4xvJ
In front of new majority shareholder Dan Sucu, Genoa defeated relegation rivals Parma 1-0 to extend their revival under Patrick Vieira’s leadership.
Genoa won their third game for the first time since France’s Alberto Gilardino was replaced in November with Morten Frendrup’s spectacular 65-minute strike.
Roma, who scored a last-gasp 2-2 draw at Bologna thanks to a contentious Artem Dovbyk penalty in the eighth minute of stoppage time, are now 11th in the table with 23 points.
After recording their first victory at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris since the final day of last season, Vieira’s team are also five points clear of the relegation zone.
“We played well from the first minute to the last, everyone was waiting for this win for 233 days and we did it with a great performance”, said Vieira.
Sucu, who purchased 77 percent of Genoa last month and made his first appearance in front of home fans, did so in a fitting manner.
The controversial investment firm 777 Partners, which acquired 99.9% of Genoa in September 2021 but received a winding up order from the United Kingdom’s High Court last year, was put in place as a result of that operation.
Sucu’s ownership is contested by another investment firm and 777 creditor, Advantage Capital (A-Cap), who say they were Genoa’s rightful owners after taking control of 777’s football assets.
A-Cap called the arrival of Sucu, who also owns Rapid Bucharest, a “non-approved clandestine operation” before Genoa said the takeover was final and that any news to the contrary was false.
In the upcoming weeks, Parma are one point and one place above the bottom three and will face three crucial fights with fellow strugglers Venezia, Lecce, and Cagliari.
Source: Channels TV
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