Inter Milan, leader of Serie A, suffered more than expected but was able to win 2-1 with a goal from Edin Dzeko in added time against a team from the lower zone, Unione Venezia (17th), this Saturday in the 23rd day.
With 53 points, Inter consolidates its first place and provisionally distances itself with five points more than the second, AC Milan, who host Juventus (5th) on Sunday at the San Siro in the star clash of the weekend at the ‘ Calcium’.
The visit of Unione Venezia seemed affordable but it turned out to be a tough nut to crack.
Ever since Inter won the Italian Super Cup ten days ago in the last breath of extra time, it has been difficult for them to get ahead in games: they tied goalless last weekend in Bergamo against Atalanta and in the round of 16 of the Copa de Italy suffered a lot on Wednesday to be able to win 3-2 at home against Empoli, also in extra time.
This Saturday, the Frenchman Thomas Henry, with a header to the center of Ethan Ampadu, put the Venetians ahead in the 19th minute and in the 40th Nicolo Barella equalized for Inter, taking advantage of a rebound in the area after a volley shot by Ivan Perisic that goalkeeper Luca Lezzerini cleared.
In the second half, Inter had effectiveness problems despite their great dominance.
The hero of the afternoon at the Giuseppe Meazza was the Bosnian Edin Dzeko (90), with his Denzel Dumfries headed goal to the center, thus removing the thorn from the good chances that he could not take advantage of before (51, 57 ).
Against Unione Venezia, Arturo Vidal was close to signing the third in the last moments, a pass from Alexis Sánchez, but without luck. The two Chilean players had entered the match around the 70th minute.
For its part, Atalanta (4th) tied 0-0 on their visit to Lazio (6th).
Atalanta now has 43 points and sees its position in the Champions League zone in jeopardy, since Juventus (41 points) is two units away and would move them out of fourth place if they beat Milan on Sunday.
In the first game on Saturday, Genoa (19th, penultimate) and Udinese (14th) also drew goalless.
It was the first match for Genoa since the arrival of German coach Alexander Blessin as a replacement for Ukrainian Andrei Shevchenko.
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