Reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan moved to the top of the table ahead of Napoli’s match against Como on Sunday, narrowly beating mid-table Genoa 1-0 and extending their home winning streak against them to 11 matches.
Inter, still recovering from last Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Juventus, had most of the possession in the first half, but were not sharp enough to break down Genoa’s solid defence. The visitors started to get into the game and create some attacks of their own, but they too struggled to produce anything clear, and the first half ended without a shot on target, frustrating the majority of the fans at the San Siro.
Joaquín Correa, who had been struggling with an injury, was substituted at half-time for Mehdi Taremi, with Marcus Thuram also missing the match due to an ankle problem. However, the second half began much the same as Inter lacked the necessary precision to capitalise on their attacks, while Genoa could have taken the lead if Jeff Ekhator’s pass to Fabio Miretti had been more accurate, with Francesco Acerbi making a crucial clearance.
Inter nearly went ahead just after the hour mark in controversial circumstances when they were awarded a corner, even though Genoa’s Alessandro Zanoli hadn’t touched the ball. From the corner, Taremi’s mishit shot was cleared off the line by Mattia Bani, and Benjamin Pavard’s scissor kick was saved by Genoa goalkeeper Nicola Leali. This rare burst of excitement lifted the crowd, prompting Genoa manager Patrick Vieira, a former Inter player, to make a triple substitution to bring fresh legs into his attack.
Genoa were starting to feel the pressure as Nicolò Barella struck the crossbar with a powerful shot in the 70th minute. Not long after, Caleb Ekuban’s header was blocked by former team-mate Josep Martínez, and Inter finally broke the deadlock. Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s accurate corner was headed in by Lautaro Martínez after a deflection.
In the final moments, Inter could have scored again, but Taremi’s shot was saved by Leali. In the end, Inter secured their first home clean sheet of 2025. Genoa, despite the defeat, can take encouragement from their performance, though they remain in 12th place in the table.
