FOOTBALL – Inter Milan maintained their flickering Serie A title hopes with a 1-0 home win over Hellas Verona yesterday, courtesy of an early penalty by Kristjan Asllani, as they rested players ahead of their Champions League clash with Barcelona next week.
The result keeps the Scudetto race ticking over, with Inter on 74 points, three behind leaders Napoli as the final three rounds await. Verona are 15th.
Inter were feeling the pressure as Napoli had earlier secured a 1-0 victory at Lecce with a Giacomo Raspadori goal.
With Inter’s semi-final return leg at home to Barca on Tuesday, following a 3-3 draw in Spain, defender Yann Bisseck was the only player to keep his place from the previous game.
Coach Simone Inzaghi and midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu were also missing as they served one-match bans from Italy’s soccer association over their relations with hardcore ‘ultra’ fans, so assistant coach Massimiliano Farris was in charge.
Inter took the lead after nine minutes through Asllani’s penalty following handball by Nicolas Valentini.
The visitors offered little threat, with forward Amin Sarr providing their only real spark with an angled strike that forced Josep Martinez into a sharp save.
Asllani came close just before the break with a long shot from a tight angle that skimmed the bar and landed on top of the net to the dismay of the home fans who thought it had gone in.
The intensity waned in the second half, though, with the match becoming a midfield battle littered with lost possession and attacks that came to nothing as Inter held on for the win.
&uuid=(email))