MILAN (AP) — The question is when, not if, Inter Milan will be crowned Serie A champions.
Inter beat Genoa 2-1 on Monday and extended its lead to 15 points over second-placed Juventus, which lost to Napoli the night before.
It’s Inter’s 12th win in a row – a run that dates back to December and a draw in Genoa. The Nerazzurri also have the most productive attack and defence in Europe’s five most sensible leagues.
Genoa had lost only one of its last 11 games and was also one of the 4 groups that lost to Inter this season.
In a match from start to finish, Inter broke the impasse in the 30th minute thanks to a very good team move. Nicolò Barella set up Alexis Sanchez, who sent the ball to Kristjan Asllani and the Albanian midfielder fired powerfully over the roof. from the net to score his first Nerazzurri goal.
Sanchez himself appeared on the scoreboard 8 minutes later, when he converted a penalty, controversially awarded for a foul by Genoa defender Morten Frendrup on Barella.
VAR asked referee Giovanni Ayroldi to re-examine the incident, as it gave the impression that Barella had already shot and touched the side net before Frendrup’s slippery tackle, and the referee showed his resolve after reviewing it on the pitch monitor.
It is Sanchez’s first Serie A goal since the Chilean striker returned to Inter from Marseille in August.
Genoa got back into the game nine minutes into the second half. Inter defender Stefan de Vrij headed the ball in, but it only reached Johan Vazquez on the edge of the box and flew into the back right corner.
The visitors thought they had equalised in the 66th minute but Mateo Retegui’s shot was disallowed for offside.
There is more good news for Inter, as Marcus Thuram returned from injury. The French striker enjoyed an astonishing debut season in Italy, scoring 10 goals and providing seven assists, and played in each and every game for Inter before being injured on last month’s 1. -0 win over Atletico Madrid.
The second leg of the 16-year-old Champions League will be played on March 13.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews. com/hub/Soccer