Lecce, Feb 22: Substitutes Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Manuel Akanji scored late for Inter Milan to stretch its Serie A lead to 10 points with an unspectacular 2-0 win at Lecce.
Both players were sent on for the last half hour. Mkhitaryan was left unmarked at the far post to score from Federico Dimarco’s corner in the 75th minute, and Akanji headed in from another corner in the 82nd.
“We knew they would drop off physically in the second half, and we did well to keep pushing,” Mkhitaryan said. Dimarco thought he’d scored after the break but the goal was ruled out after a VAR check found Marcus Thuram was offside. Dimarco later had another effort to seal the win cleared off the line before he took the corner for Akanji’s goal.
Inter was without star players Lautaro Martinez and Hakan Calhanoglu.
“Sometimes we produce our best in big matches, other times we don’t,” Akanji said. “But there aren’t two different versions of Inter. Yes, we lost to Bodø/Glimt last time out in the Champions League, but we’re still the same team capable of great things.” Inter lost 3-1 to Bodø/Glimt in the first leg of their Champions League playoff. The Norwegian tournament upstart visits Milan for the second leg on Tuesday.Inter’s seventh consecutive league win moved it 10 points clear of AC Milan before its city rival hosts Parma on Sunday.Juventus’ crisis continuesJuventus’ damaging week continued with a 2-0 loss at home to Como that dents the Italian power’s hopes of Champions League qualification. (AP)
