February 26, (THEWILL) – Inter Milan failed to profit from AC Milan’s slip in Friday night football, as the Nerazzurri were held to a goalless draw by Genoa in Serie A.
Simone Inzaghi’s team knew that a win at Stadio Luigi Ferraris would bring them level on points with leaders Milan, who could only draw with Udinese, as THEWILL reported.
Yet, Inter failed to create many clear-cut chances against a squad that has only won once in Serie A this season, with Danilo D’Ambrosio’s header against the crossbar the closest they got to a winner.
Salvatore Sirigu made an early stop from Ivan Perisic’s first attempt, but Inter would have been behind if Albert Gudmundsson had held his cool in a one-on-one situation with Samir Handanovic.
In the 28th minute, Inter’s goalkeeper made a spectacular save by stretching out his right hand, despite leaning to his left, to stop Filippo Melegoni’s curving shot.
Before halftime, Denzel Dumfries sliced over and Edin Dzeko came near to connecting with Perisic’s cross, while Nicolo Barella fired over soon after.
Andrea Cambiaso, who had only been on the pitch for 53 minutes, had to be replaced in the 60th minute after appearing to injure his knee while stopping Hakan Calhanoglu’s close-range attempt.
Inter’s biggest opportunity came when Calhanoglu’s corner was met by D’Ambrosio, but the defender was stopped by the bar, with Sirigu reacting quickly to clear the rebound as the deadlock stayed unbroken.
It was another poor showing by the defending champions as Inter has only won once in their past six games in all competitions, and they have only two points from their last four league games.
Surprisingly, Genoa have gained confidence after their 24th encounter without a Serie A victory, and will be hoping to stop their winless streak against an ailing Empoli team next week. Inter will face Milan in the Coppa Italia semi-finals on Tuesday, with the opening leg expected to be a thrilling encounter between the two title contenders.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
