After being knocked out of the Champions League during the week, Inter Milan remains on course for the Serie A title. Against Genoa, the Nerazzurri were frustrated several times by the strong keeper Bijlow, but Dimarco put his team ahead with a spectacular goal. In the end, it was a confident victory.
The Nerazzurri had to cope with what was probably the biggest surprise of this Champions League season during the week, as Inter Milan were the victims of Bodö/Glimt’s sensational upset: the Norwegians knocked last year’s finalists out of Europe’s premier competition with a 2-1 win in the second leg at San Siro – now it was time for Inter to make amends in the league.
On Saturday evening, the Milanese faced the 14th-placed team from Genoa in front of their home crowd – and, as leaders with a ten-point lead over city rivals AC, they were naturally the favorites. Inter underlined this status in the first half. Bonny’s shot from the edge of the box (17′) and a corner from Dimarco (18′) that was pulled to the far corner tested visiting keeper Bijlow for the first time.
The 28-year-old Dutchman remained in the spotlight in the following minutes. He could only watch as a deflected long-range shot from Mkhitaryan hit the crossbar (27′). Shortly afterwards, Bijlow scraped a header from Bonny out of the corner (30′), before he had no chance against Dimarco: Mkhitaryan curled the ball perfectly into the path of the 28-year-old on the left of the penalty area, whose volley found the far corner (31′). A deserved lead for the home side.
Calhanoglu doubles the lead from the spot after another brilliant save by Bijlow
In the first half, the Nerazzurri had 67 percent possession and 9:2 shots – but after the break, Inter initially slowed down a gear, still dominating but no longer pushing forward with as much momentum. This allowed Genoa to get closer, but it wasn’t until just before the 70-minute mark that things got really dangerous again at the other end. First, Bijlow deflected a deflected shot from Luis Henrique onto the post with a powerful reaction (69′), then a cross from the Brazilian in the penalty area hit Amorim’s hand: penalty. Substitute Calhanoglu made no mistake, confidently converting to the bottom right (70′).
Not much else happened after that, with Inter keeper Sommer only really called into action once when Akanji deflected a low cross towards his own goal – but straight into Sommer’s arms (82′). Inter ultimately cruised to their eighth league win in a row and extended their lead at the top of the table overnight. However, Milan can close the gap on Sunday at US Cremonese.
Next up for Inter is the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final, with the Nerazzurri traveling to Como 1907 on Tuesday (9 p.m.). In the league, the next highlight awaits next Sunday with the Derby della Madonnina “at” second-placed AC Milan (8:45 p.m.). Genoa also welcomes AS Roma on Sunday (6 p.m.).