VENICE, Italy, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Inter Milan secured a 1-0 win at lowly Venezia on Sunday thanks to an early goal from Matteo Darmian that lifted them to second place in Serie A.
The visitors took the lead after 16 minutes when Lautaro Martinez unleashed a low volley, forcing Venezia keeper Filip Stankovic into a one-handed reflex save, but the rebound fell perfectly for Darmian who slotted it home.
Inter moved on to 43 points, one ahead of Atalanta, who were held to a goalless draw at Udinese on Saturday. Napoli are top with 44 points but have played one game more than Inter. Venezia are second-bottom with 14 points.
Simeone Inzaghi’s side, missing key players such as Hakan Calhanoglu, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Yann Bisseck, managed to secure a sixth consecutive away win keeping a clean sheet for the first time in Inter’s history.
Stankovic, on loan from Inter, did well to stop Martinez’s attempt before just the break, ensuring the visitors went into halftime with only a one-goal advantage despite dominating.
Venezia came out aggressively in the second half, with Issa Doumbia sending in a header from a corner, but Inter keeper Yann Sommer made a fine save to deny the hosts with their first effort on target.
Davide Frattesi could have doubled Inter’s lead but failed to beat Stankovic one-on-one, who managed to deflect the attempt.
Venezia nearly shocked Inter when Gianluca Busio came close with an angled drive that hit the far post and bounced out and Joel Pohjanpalo was flagged for offside as he attempted to score from the rebound.
