Inter narrowly beat a stubborn Palermo side 1-0 at the San Siro on Sunday afternoon.
They knew that nothing less than a win would suffice at the San Siro against a struggling Palermo side after Juventus and Napoli won on Saturday evening and in Sunday’s early kick-off.
Inter began the match on the front foot and the first chance of the day arrived after four minutes but Rodrigo Palacio failed to test Samir Ujkani in the Palermo goal with a header from 12 yards.
The next chance of the game fell to Inter’s Walter Samuel. The Argentine defender’s header, from the game’s first corner, went straight at Ujkani who had stayed on his goal line.
Palermo’s first chance of the game didn’t arrive until the 23rd minute. Michel Morganella received the ball on the right flank and crossed for Paulo Dybala who headed well wide from 15 yards out.
Gian Piero Gaspirini’s side were having plenty of possession but after half an hour Diego Milito almost put Inter ahead. He received the ball on the left corner of the penalty area and showed excellent strength to hold off a challange before curling a powerful shot towards goal. Luckily for Palermo his effort didn’t quite bend enough and whistled just wide of Ujkani’s goal.
Three minutes later Palermo broke quickly up field, Slovenian international Josip Ilicic cut inside onto his weaker right foot and shot a couple of yards wide from the edge of the area in Palermo’s best move of the game so far. The Rosanero were enjoying a brief spell of dominance and Edgar Barreto was next to test Samir Handanovic from outside the area but his shot was comfortably saved.
The first opportunity of the second half fell to Inter’s Philippe Coutinho after 51 minutes. After some neat interplay between Milito and Coutinho the Brazilian forward shot well wide under pressure from the Palermo defence.
After 59 minutes Inter almost broke the deadlock through young defender Andrea Rannochia. His first shot was blocked but the ball broke kindly for a second attempt and his fierce left-footed drive whistled just over the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area.
In the 64th minute Inter manager Andrea Stramaccioni made a bold move substututing Milito and captain Javier Zanetti. The move almost paid dividends as replacements Yuto Nagatomo and Fredy Guarin combined to force a good save from Ujkani who tipped the ball away from Coutinho just in time.
As the game entered the final 15 minutes the deadlock was finally broken. Inter worked the ball out to the right hand side and the unfortunate Santiago Garcia turned an outswinging cross into his own goal. The goal was harsh on Palermo who had dealt with everything Inter had thrown at them with reletive comfort, restricting them mainly to long range efforts.
The final 15 minutes passed with neither side able to create a clear chance as Inter seemed content to protect their lead. This narrow victory, their first in four games in Serie A, keeps them in touching distance with leaders Juventus and second placed Napoli. Palermo are now just two points ahead of 18th placed Genoa.
