FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Inter Milan beat Como 2-0 on Monday to consolidate third place in Serie A and reduce the gap with the first two, Atalanta and Napoli.
Carlos Augusto opened the scoring when he headed in a corner kick in the 48th minute.
Marcus Thuram scored the second in stoppage time with a powerful shot into the net.
It was the first time these teams had met in the top division since 2003, and although Inter had only lost one league game all season, they struggled to beat 15th-place Como.
However, they won without trying hard and the three points were enough to bring Simone Inzaghi's team within three points of the leader Atalanta and one of Naples. Inter has one game less than both clubs.
Fiorentina missed the chance to move into fourth place in Serie A on Monday when they conceded two goals in the second half and lost 2-1 at home to Udinese.
The Florence club had won a record eight consecutive Serie A matches before losing 1-0 against Bologna on December 15. He appeared to be back on track when Moisés Kean converted a penalty in the eighth minute to become the first Fiorentina player to reach 10 league goals since Federico Chiesa in the 2019-20 season.
However, Udinese were a different opponent after the break.
Lorenzo Lucca equalized with the help of sloppy defending four minutes into the second half and then Florian Thauvin found space on the edge of the area to curl in a curling shot eight minutes later.
The result left Udinese in ninth place and Fiorentina fifth.
The match was special for Edoardo Bove, the Fiorentina player whose collapse due to a heart problem led to the suspension of his game with Inter Milan on December 1.
Bove was fitted with a defibrillator implant shortly afterwards and was on the Fiorentina bench for the first time since his collapse.
He is not allowed to play, but his position on the wing alongside coach Raffaele Palladino was seen as a step towards normality for the 22-year-old midfielder.
___
This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
Swiss
