MILAN (Reuters) -Inter Milan clinched a hard-fought 1-0 home victory over Venezia when a second-half header from Lautaro Martinez proved enough to seal the Serie A clash on Sunday.
Inter are now in second place in the table with 24 points, one behind leaders Napoli, while Venezia are 18th.
Inter narrowed the gap with the leaders after Napoli suffered a 3-0 home defeat to Atalanta earlier on Sunday.
Captain Martinez broke Venezia’s defence after 65 minutes, expertly heading in Federico Dimarco’s cross for the breakthrough after a match full of missed chances.
The Argentine striker appeared visibly relieved after scoring his first Serie A goal at home in eight months, with Inter registering 20 shots on goal throughout the match.
“It was about time! I always say that I work for the team, I got two goals wrong in the first half, but I am glad because we took the points home,” Martinez told DAZN.
After a slow start, both teams raised the tempo before halftime but headed into the break goalless.
Just minutes after the break, Henrikh Mkhitaryan thought he had scored for Inter, only for the goal to be overturned due to an offside.
STOPPAGE DRAMA
Inter had opportunities to extend their lead but narrow margins and impressive saves from Venezia’s keeper Filip Stankovic kept the scoreline intact.
Fans in San Siro held their breath as Marin Sverko headed in an equaliser for the visitors in the dying seconds of stoppage time but a VAR review revealed a handball and the goal was disallowed, preserving Inter’s victory.
“There were zero minutes of added time in the first half, but seven after the break. I think football needs to move forward and we are not doing that,” Martinez said.
“Of course, we also have our own blame to take for not killing the game off earlier… it’s a long season, but we have to improve in these details.”
In another Serie A match on Sunday, AS Roma coach Ivan Juric found himself under pressure following a 3-2 defeat by Hellas Verona.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; editing by Clare Fallon and Pritha Sarkar)
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