(Reuters) – Fourth-placed Inter Milan secured a 1-0 home win over strugglers Hellas Verona thanks to an early goal from striker Lautaro Martinez in a Serie A game with few chances on Saturday.
It took just three minutes for Martinez to open the scoring when he picked up the ball inside the box and fired it into the far left corner for his ninth league goal of the season.
“We scored early and then despite a little tension in the closing stages, we remained solid and focused without suffering much against a Verona side that could cause us problems,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.
Martinez scored again in the 63rd minute when he chipped the ball over keeper Lorenzo Montipo but the goal was disallowed for his foul on Pawel Dawidowicz during the build up.
Substitute Kristjan Asllani came close to scoring a second goal for Inter in the closing stages, but his shot from outside the box curled just outside the post.
Verona tried to put some pressure on Inter in the final minutes of the game as they desperately searched for an equalizer but they failed to create any clear chances.
The result left Inter level on 37 points with third-placed Juventus and 10 behind leaders Napoli after 18 games. Verona are second-bottom with nine points, six adrift of the safety zone.
Napoli thrashed Juventus 5-1 on Friday while AC Milan fought from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw at Lecce on Saturday.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris and Pritha Sarkar)
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