MILAN: Inter Milan substitute Davide Frattesi struck in added time as the Serie A leaders snatched a 2-1 win against Hellas Verona, who missed a late penalty in a drama filled clash on Saturday.

Inter stretched the gap to five points over second-placed Juventus, which means Simone Inzaghi’s side claim the title of Winter Champions.

Lautaro Martinez had given Inter an early lead before Thomas Henry equalised late in the second half only for Frattesi to put the hosts back in front before Henry missed a last-gasp penalty.

“We did what we had prepared, maybe not always very well, but we take these three points with the awareness that we have Juventus behind us and that we have to continue to win games,” Martinez told Inter TV.

The defeat saw Verona drop into the relegation zone in 18th spot on 14 points.

Inter opened the scoring through Martinez in the 13th minute when Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s pass found the Argentine forward in the box ahead of defender Josh Doig and he calmly shot low past goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo into the corner.

Martinez had missed the last two games through injury, and his 16th league goal in 17 games sees him well ahead in the Serie A scoring charts, with Sassuolo’s Domenico Berardi his closest challenger on nine goals.

Martinez did have the ball in the net three minutes after the break but offside was given against Francesco Acerbi.

Instead, it was Verona who equalised in the 74th when Henry, who had only been on the pitch for a minute, got a touch with his knee to Ondrej Duda’s cross to beat keeper Yann Sommer.

Marko Arnautovic was guilty of missing two chances to restore Inter’s lead and it looked as if they would have to settle for their second consecutive draw.

But added time brought plenty of drama as Alessandro Bastoni’s volley hit the crossbar and after Nicolo Barella’s follow-up shot from distance was parried by Montipo, substitute Frattesi pounced to score in the 93rd minute.

Before the restart Verona were down to 10-men when Darko Lazovic was shown a red card for saying something to the referee but the visitors still had a chance to equalise with a penalty.

A foul by Matteo Darmian gave Henry the opportunity to net his second but a scuffed spot kick hit the post and Inter held on for the win as Michael Folorunsho headed the rebound wide.

“I watched it, and we should have been better there too,” Inter manager Simone Inzaghi said. “On the rebound it should not be Folorunsho but us. We were lucky ... he wasn’t supposed to arrive but some Inter players after Henry’s kick.”

Elsewhere, Fiorentina fell to a 1-0 defeat at Sassuolo who snapped a six-match winless run in all competitions thanks to Andrea Pinamonti’s ninth-minute strike.

Vincenzo Italiano’s Fiorentina stay in the Champions League positions, one point ahead of fifth-placed Bologna who snatched a late draw at Genoa on Friday night.

Sassuolo move up to 14th, five points ahead of Verona thanks to the win, ahead on goal difference from Frosinone who lost 3-2 an entertaining home clash with Monza.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2024