Inter Milan edged past struggling Hellas Verona 1-0 thanks to Kristjan Asllani’s early penalty, keeping the pressure on leaders Napoli and maintaining their perfect recent home record against the Gialloblu.
After Napoli stretched their lead to six points earlier in the day, the Nerazzurri responded with intent. Nicolas Valentini’s handball, spotted after a VAR review, gifted Asllani the chance to open the scoring, and the midfielder coolly dispatched his effort past Lorenzo Montipò for his first league goal of the season.
Inter pushed for a second, with Nicola Zalewski testing the Verona keeper from distance, while Marko Arnautovic squandered two headed opportunities.
Though dominant in possession, Simone Inzaghi’s side lacked their usual attacking sharpness without Lautaro Martínez and with Marcus Thuram on the bench.
Verona grew in belief as the match wore on, but chances for Ondrej Duda and Tomas Suslov drifted wide.
With Barcelona looming in the Champions League, Inter managed the final stages professionally, seeing out the win to stay firmly in the title race.
Verona remain winless in six and are now glancing nervously over their shoulders, while Inter stretch their unbeaten home run against the visitors to 35 league games.
