January 10, (THEWILL) – Inter returned to the top of Serie A with a 2-1 victory over Lazio at home on Sunday night.
Inter moved the ball about with a swagger that belied the 18-day wait for a return to the pitch in their first match of 2022, which was postponed after a midweek fixture with Bologna never materialised.
In the 17th minute, Lautaro Martinez had the ball in the net but was denied a 12th goal of the season by a sliver-wide offside VAR call. Inter turned up the pressure by trapping Lazio in their own half for lengthy swaths of the game, with Stefan de Vrij and Lautaro both going close.
Inter’s opener came from a surprising source: Alessandro Bastoni. Inter’s centre back guided a 25-yard strike through a crowded box and into the bottom corner half an hour in, after steadying himself as he received a half-cleared corner.
Ciro Immobile pulled Lazio level entirely against the run of play after Inter had hardly finished their second iteration of the celebrations. Taking advantage of De Vrij and Milan Skriniar’s combined blackout, the visiting captain dashed onto the drop ball Danilo Cataldi impishly knocked over the top.
After scoring Inter’s first goal in Serie A, Lazio were upbeat for the next ten hours of play, with bright moments on each side of half-time.
Inter, on the other hand, continued to their methodical passing game with leisurely assurance. Ivan Perisic may have given the hosts the lead back, but Skriniar put his team ahead in the 67th minute, directing Bastoni’s arced cross across the line with a satisfying clank off the underside of the crossbar.
The visitors fought until the last whistle, but they could not stop Inter from extending their winning streak to eight games in a row. As a result, Inter move ahead of AC Milan to recover first place. Lazio is still in seventh place.
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.
