MILAN: Inter Milan toiled to a 2-0 victory over lowly Como thanks to second-half goals from Carlos Augusto and Marcus Thuram on Monday to remain within touching distance of the Serie A summit.

The win lifted third-placed Inter to 37 points, leaving them three points off leaders Atalanta and one behind second-placed Napoli. Inter have a game in hand on the top two after their match with Fiorentina was called off at the start of December following Edoardo Bove’s sudden collapse.

“Even in matches in which we are not 100% brilliant, it’s important to win,” said Inter centre-back Alessandro Bastoni. “Especially because the others had already played and won, so we had to give a positive response.”

Defending champions Inter dominated the first half but squandered a number of chances, with the unmarked Denzel Dumfries firing over from close range and Federico Dimarco shooting straight at Como’s veteran goalkeeper Pepe Reina.

Inter finally scored with Augusto’s towering far-post header from a Hakan Calhanoglu corner three minutes after the break.

“Happy for the goal, but more important is the victory. We knew it was a tough game but we got three points,” left back Augusto told Sky Italia. “We knew it was a different league last year, this year there are many strong teams. But I have confidence in my team mates who are the best in the world. We’ll see at the end”.

The visitors looked more dangerous after going behind, with man of the match Augusto making a crucial interception to deny Edoardo Goldaniga an equaliser and Yann Sommer pulling off a great save to keep out an effort from Nico Paz.

Simone Inzaghi’s side kept pushing to extend their lead but captain Lautaro Martinez saw his 68th-minute effort disallowed for offside, extending his goal drought that has lasted more than a month.

Thuram sealed the win two minutes into stoppage time with a powerful shot past Reina to reach 12 league goals, level with Atalanta’s Mateo Retegui in the Serie A scoring chart.

“Marcus is a high-class player who always trains well and has adapted very quickly to the way we play,” said Inzaghi. “You have to congratulate Como for coming here and giving it their all, but we stayed focused and showed great maturity.

“We played a game of concentration, in the first half we weren’t as sharp as usual. Then in the second half we raised the intensity and struck at the right moments.”

Inter visit lowly Cagliari this weekend and could put the pressure back on Atalanta, who are away to Lazio in the late game on Saturday.

Como, coached by Cesc Fabregas, slipped a spot to 16th and sit just one point clear of the relegation zone.

Fiorentina lost more ground in the title race after falling to a 2-1 home defeat by Udinese.

Moise Kean’s early penalty gave Fiorentina the lead as they sought to shake off last weekend’s loss to Bologna that snapped the club’s eight-match winning streak in Serie A.

However, Udinese equalised shortly after half-time through Lorenzo Lucca and former France international Florian Thauvin curled in the winner from outside the area.

“The most important thing for me is not the goal but the victory. These are three important points against a very strong team,” said Udinese captain Thauvin.

Udinese stayed ninth and are eight points off the European places.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2024