Inter made it 10 straight Serie A wins with a 2-1 home win over Sassuolo on Wednesday evening.
Romelu Lukaku continued his impressive form by heading in Ashley Young’s cross early on. Lautaro Martinez made it 2-0 with 20 minutes to go, but a Hamed Junior Traore finish in the 85th minute set up a grandstand finish.
It didn’t take long for Inter to settle their nerves and take the lead. Young played a perfect cross that Lukaku effortlessly glanced into the bottom corner after 10 minutes. Achraf Hakimi missed a great headed chance just a few minutes earlier.
Sassuolo saw plenty of the ball in the first half but didn’t look dangerous until Jeremie Boga saw a shot from close range saved by Samir Handanovic. Inter looked dangerous on the break and felt in total control.
Sassuolo were left enraged when they thought Raspadori had been pulled over in the box, and then Martinez immediately finished off a swift counter-attack to make it 2-0. With just over 20 minutes to go, the game looked beyond the Neroverdi.
Inter seemed to be seeing the game out calmly, but then Junior Traore hit a beautiful shot into the top corner with five minutes to play. Suddenly Antonio Conte’s side were under serious threat. Despite their pressure, Sassuolo couldn’t fashion an equaliser.
Alexis Sanchez and Hakimi ended up missing great chances in added time to kill the game, and Lukaku had a second goal chalked off for offside.
Inter now boast an 11 point lead over Milan, having both played 29 games. Sassuolo meanwhile remain rooted in mid-table.
