A little patience then a missile from Thuram. Inter Milan took their time to beat promoted Como 2-0 and come back to three points behind the leader of the Italian Championship, Atalanta, on Monday at the end of the 17th day. The reigning champion, labored in the first period, accelerated after returning from the locker room to take the advantage thanks to Carlos Augusto (48th).
Simone Inzaghi's team, visibly tired by the sequence of matches, then managed, but exposed itself to counterattacks from Como, coming very close to equalizing without a save from Yann Sommer in front of Nico Paz at close range (62nd ). In added time (90+2), Marcus Thuram woke up San Siro with his 12th league goal of the season with a clear strike, which allowed him to join Mateo Retegui (Atalanta) at the top of the scorers' rankings.
“Marcus is a high quality player who always trains very well and has adapted very quickly to our playing principles“, underlined Inzaghi. “We must congratulate Como for coming here to play their luck to the fullest, but we remained focused and we showed great maturity,” he added.
With 37 points, Inter, which still has one game less than its rivals, has provided the essentials by coming back on the heels of Naples (2nd, 38 pts) and maintaining the pressure on Atalanta (1st, 40 pts), who scored an eleventh consecutive victory on Sunday against Empoli (3-2).
Thauvin keeps Udinese in the first part of the table
In the other match played on Monday, Udinese won on Fiorentina (2-1) thanks to a spectacular goal from their French captain Florian Thauvin. Udinese, trailing from the 8th minute, equalized in the 49th before Thauvin gave his team victory in the 57th minute with a superb rebound into the top corner, his fifth goal of the season in Serie A. Udinese remains 9th with 23 points, eight lengths from 6th qualifying place for the Conference League, while Fiorentina is 5th (31 pts) after this second consecutive defeat.
