Lautaro Martinez made sure that Inter Milan put pressure on their Serie A title rivals with the only goal in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Udinese, which extended his team’s league lead to six points.
Martinez expertly poked home the winner in the 20th minute in Udine to continue Inter’s nine-match unbeaten run in Italy’s top flight.
Inter were the better team from start to finish, putting pressure on Udinese high up the pitch as Cristian Chivu wants his team to do.
“What we’re displaying on the pitch is a testament to the desire of these players, because it’s not easy to change habits,” said Chivu to DAZN.
“We defend high up the pitch and we start with pressure from the forwards and it comes from their work, the desire for our midfielders to win duels and from the courage of our defenders in maintaining a high line.”
Inter have collected 25 points from a possible 27 since losing the Milan derby at the end of November and again showed a ruthlessness in dealing with the smaller sides that both AC Milan and Napoli have lacked.
Napoli take on Sassuolo in Saturday’s next fixture after three straight draws have left the champions in third, nine points off the Scudetto pace.
Second-placed Milan host Lecce on Sunday with a six-point gap separating them from local rivals Inter even though the seven-time European champions haven’t lost since the opening day of the season.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side have dropped a host of points to teams they should beat, starting back in August against Jamie Vardy’s Cremonese who remain the only team to get three points from Milan.
Inter meanwhile have the opposite problem, with a poor track record in matches against high-profile opposition, a weakness which will be tested by Premier League leaders Arsenal on Tuesday in the Champions League.
Four straight wins at the start of the league phase of the competition were followed up by two defeats which have left direct qualification for the last 16 in doubt.
Juventus, in fourth, trail Inter by 10 points but have been improving under Luciano Spalletti and are heavy favourites to win at Cagliari in Saturday’s late match.
td/nf
