Inter Milan continued with their marauding run in the Serie A season as they maintained the top spot on the table with a slim 1-0 win over Torino on Wednesday night. This was Milan's side seventh straight win and sixth win without conceding a goal while the unbeaten streak has now stretched to eleven games.
Inter (46 points) go into the mid-season break with a four-point cushion over arch-rivals AC Milan at the second place.
While Inter had already secured the lead for the season’s halfway point entering the holiday break, it was a welcome victory a day after the club’s offices were raided by finance police amid an ongoing investigation into false accounting.
Denzel Dumfries scored from the edge of the area to conclude a counterattack after taking a backheel pass from Edin Dzeko during the first half at the San Siro. It was the third goal in four matches for the Netherlands right back.
"We're happy with how we've ended the year. It's easy for everyone to say that Inter is the favorite but that wasn’t the case in the summer," said first-year Inter coach Simone Inzaghi while recalling the doubts surrounding the club following the departures of previous coach Antonio Conte and standout players Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi.
"The club did well to get players useful for my style of play,” Inzaghi added.
AC Milan, on the other hand, won 4-2 at Empoli with a brace from Franck Kessie and a goal each from Alessandro Florenzi and Theo Hernandez.
Third-place Napoli dropped seven points behind Inter after losing 1-0 at home to relegation-threatened Spezia, who benefited from an own-goal from Napoli defender Juan Jesus.
Spezia did not produce a single shot on goal. Napoli was missing captain Lorenzo Insigne, who tested positive for COVID-19.
Roma held by Sampdoria
Manolo Gabbiadini scored 10 minutes from time to secure a 1-1 draw for Sampdoria at Roma. Eldor Shomurodov had put Roma ahead eight minutes earlier on his third attempt after his first two shots were blocked.
Gabbiadini then scored from close range following a corner. Roma are sixth, six points behind Atalanta and the final Champions League berth in Jose Mourinho’s first season with the Giallorossi.
Roma are level on points with seventh-place Fiorentina, who drew 1-1 at Hellas Verona. Gaetano Castrovilli equalised for the Viola with a diving header following an opener from Kevin Lasagna.
COVID-stricken Lazio post win
Lazio won 3-1 at Venezia despite missing striker Ciro Immobile, who has the coronavirus. Pedro, Francesco Acerbi and Luis Alberto stepped up on the day for the Roman club.
Also, Bologna won 3-0 at Sassuolo with goals from Riccardo Orsolini, Aaron Hickey and Federico Santander. It was the fourth goal this season for Hickey, a Scotland midfielder in his second season in Italy. Serie A resumes on January 6.
(Reported by AP)
