By a quirk of fate, Inter were also targeting six league wins in a row, as well as a sixth straight victory in the first Serie A game of a calendar year, and with a proud tradition to keep up, Inter unsurprisingly dictated the opening quarter-hour before going ahead.
Kristjan Asllani was the initial architect, punting a long ball forward that evaded the Venezia backline and fell to Lautaro Martinez. He took a shot as the ball dropped, and though Filip Stankovic managed to save, he could only parry into the path of Darmian, who fired in his second league goal of the campaign.
Venezia’s response was muted in the face of Inter’s fast-paced passing and menacing possession play, though Joel Pohjanpalo did force a block from Alessandro Bastoni in a rare foray forward.
Beyond that, Inter remained firmly in control, and Martinez should have done better when put clean through with a slide-rule pass 10 minutes before half-time, only to under-hit his shot and give Stankovic a relatively simple save to make.
That gratitude became frustration early in the second half as Venezia spurned a golden chance to draw level. A one-two from a corner between Gianluca Busio and Hans Nicolussi Caviglia saw the latter fire in an inswinging cross, which took a deflection that allowed Issa Doumbia a free header at goal, only for it to be saved at point-blank range by Yann Sommer.
Inter wasted no time in responding, and Taremi was on the charge, with only the intervention of Jay Idzes preventing him from getting a clean shot away from the edge of the box.
As the three-quarter mark approached, Davide Frattesi should have buried Venezia once and for all, as he ran onto a loose ball inside the box and tried to place it under Stankovic. The Venezia custodian was sharp yet again, tipping the ball away from danger, and a double substitution then followed from the Venezia bench as they launched their final assault to try and salvage a point.
However, it was Busio who nearly levelled up with around 20 minutes remaining, when he picked up a shrewd pass on the edge of the box and fired at goal, only to see his effort clang agonisingly off the post.
Having conceded seven of their 15 league goals this season beyond the 80th minute, Inter had no divine right to relax. But they managed to close out this surprisingly hard-fought affair against the league’s second-bottom club, and duly move back to within a point of leaders Napoli, with a game in hand.
As for Venezia, better finishing might have salvaged a positive result, but with five points now separating them from safety, time is running out for them to mount a decent fight for survival.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Matteo Darmian (Inter Milan)
