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Inter Milan defeat Como to keep pressure on Serie A leaders Atalanta

  /  autty

Como have recently become the club of Hollywood’s biggest stars, but the opening act to this match was more gritty social realism than box office smash hit, as Inter failed to dominate as expected.

The reigning Serie A champions looked more dangerous when they had the ball, but their fellow Lombard opponents matched their more illustrious adversaries in the midfield battle, and limited the Nerazzurri to only two clear chances in a tight first half.

The first of those two opportunities came just after the half-hour mark, when Henrikh Mkhitaryan pulled back to an unmarked Denzel Dumfries, but the Dutch defender only succeeded in blasting his shot over the bar from 12 yards.

On the stroke of half-time, it would be Inter’s other wing-back that went close, as Federico Dimarco sliced his shot on the turn harmlessly into the arms of Como goalkeeper Pepe Reina.

Just three minutes after the break, the away side’s stubborn resistance dissipated when Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s corner was headed home by Carlos Augusto, with the Brazilian being allowed to drift in between two defenders and guide his header past Reina.

Going behind forced the Lariani to push forward, and their best chance of the game came when midfield playmaker Nico Paz was left free from a corner, and the Argentine forced Yann Sommer into a fine low stop to keep his team in the lead.

Despite this being a game between the two teams who have conceded the most goals in the final 10 minutes of matches this season, late fireworks looked unlikely as the away side struggled to create while the hosts lacked the final ball to turn promising positions into clear-cut chances.

In the end, Marcus Thuram would put the result beyond doubt in stoppage time, as he drove at the Como defence and thundered an unstoppable strike into the top corner, to seal a crucial three points for his side.