Juventus’ 2-1 defeat to Napoli on Sunday evening gave Inter an opportunity to move a remarkable 15 points clear at the top of the table should they prevail.
However, 12th-placed Genoa – who came into this clash with just one defeat in their last 11 Serie A games – promised to be difficult opponents, and throughout the first half-hour, the hosts struggled to display their superiority. In fact, the game’s first clear-cut chance fell to the visitors, as Mateo Retegui’s close-range header forced a fantastic diving save from Yann Sommer before Albert Gudmundsson failed to turn home the rebound.
That attempt, though, appeared to kick the Nerazzurri into life, and shortly after Federico Dimarco had fired an effort over, they took the lead.
Lautaro Martinez has been the division’s most prolific player this term, finding the back of the net on 23 occasions prior to kick-off, but he displayed his creative skills on this occasion. It was his pass that released Kristjan Asllani, who subsequently buried into the roof of the net with aplomb in the 30th minute.
Not long after, Nicolo Barella shot into the side-netting, but Morten Frendrup’s late, wild lunge missed the ball and caught the Italian international. After a lengthy trip to the pitchside monitor, referee Giovanni Ayroldi awarded a penalty.
From the spot, Alexis Sanchez hammered his drive into the corner to double his side’s advantage going into the break.
Simone Inzaghi’s term appeared to be in total control as the second half got underway, but they found their lead halved within 10 minutes of the restart.
There was nothing Sommer could do to keep out Johan Vasquez’s volley from outside the area after the Swiss goalkeeper’s backline were unable to clear the ball.
Midway through the half, Alberto Gilardino’s men thought they had completed the comeback when Vitinha found the bottom corner despite Sommer’s best efforts. However, the 23-year-old was clearly offside when receiving the ball, and the strike was therefore ruled out.
While Genoa was industrious in attack and enjoyed plenty of possession in Inter’s third, the Serie A leaders showed they are just as capable defending a one-goal lead as dominating opponents from start to finish.
They were able to see out the victory relatively easily to pick up another three points. It is now surely only a matter of if, not when, Martinez lifts the Scudetto. Genoa, meanwhile, will be happy with the way battled after going two goals down, and their strong run means their relegation fears are a thing of the past.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Inter Milan)
