Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan side ended a five-year wait for a victory away at Lazio with a comprehensive 2-0 triumph in the capital, extending their lead at the top of Serie A to four points. With yet another Scudetto in sight, Inter travelled to the capital looking to cement their status as title favourites. In what had been a first half dominated by the home side, the visitors were able to find an opener as a result of a catastrophic Lazio error. Intercepting Adam Marušić’s poor backpass, Lautaro Martínez rounded goalkeeper Ivan Provedel, before eventually poking home into an empty net. Frustration for Lazio, who had previously come close on two separate occasions through Ciro Immobile, with the hosts somewhat unfortunate to have fallen behind.
It would prove a familiar story in the second half too, as Lazio’s failure to take their chances gifted Inter the opportunity to stretch their advantage out even further. This time via Marcus Thuram, whose driven strike evaded two Lazio defenders and the goalkeeper, before sneaking its way into the far left corner. Yet another goal for the Martinez and Thuram partnership, which has now yielded 22 league goals so far this season – over 50% of Inter’s total in Serie A.
A sharp save from Provedel was all that stopped Hakan Çalhanoğlu from adding a third late on, but it wouldn’t impact the outcome, with Lazio reduced to 10 men after Manuel Lazzari was shown a straight red card for dissent with two minutes to play. Interestingly enough, this is the first time Maurizio Sarri has lost a home match in his managerial career against Inter, with the Lazio boss now no doubt feeling the pressure, as his side drop out of the top half in Serie A.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 16Friday Genoa – Juventus 1-1 (0-1)/Gudmundsson 48 – Chiesa 28 pen/Saturday Lecce – Frosinone 2-1 (1-1)/Piccoli 11, Ramadani 89 – Kaio Jorge 33 pen/Napoli – Cagliari 2-1 (0-0)/Osimnhen 69, Kvaratskhelia 77 – Pavoletti 72/Torino – Empoli 1-0 (1-0)/Zapata 25/SundayMilan – Monza 3-0 (2-0)/Rejinders 3, Simic 41, Okafor 76/Fiorentina – Verona 1-0 (0-0)/Beltran 78/Udinese – Sassuolo 2-2 (1-0)/Lucca 36, Pereyra 55 – Berardi 75 pen, 88 pen/Bologna – Roma 2-0 (1-0)/Moro 37, Kristensen 49 og/Lazio – Inter 0-2 (0-1)/Martinez 40, Thuram 67/Monday 22.45: (1.32) Atalanta (5.80) Salernitana (10.5)***odds are subject to change