Federico Dimarco scored the opening goal just before half-time at a foggy Stadio Ennio Tardini before Marcus Thuram netted in stoppage time to give Inter a sixth straight league win and a handy advantage on third-placed Napoli.
Inter will hold top spot until at least the weekend, when Cristian Chivu’s team will host the champions in a Scudetto showdown at the San Siro.
But their lead could be cut back to a point on Thursday as local rivals AC Milan, who sit second and are level on 38 points with Napoli, host struggling Genoa.
“Today it was important to win and that’s what we did, now we can start thinking about Sunday’s match,” said Dimarco.
Inter could have won more easily as Pio Esposito, who started in place of Thuram in view of Sunday’s clash with Napoli, hit the crossbar in the 29th minute, while Parma old boy Ange-Yoan Bonny had a late goal ruled out for handball.
But it was Petar Sucic who wasted the best opportunity of the night midway through the second half when he somehow shot wide when sent clean through by Lautaro Martinez.
In the end it didn’t matter and Inter now have a healthy cushion between themselves and Napoli, who had to fight back from two goals down at half-time to squeak a draw in Naples.
Napoli’s Giovanni Di Lorenzo swept home a brilliant leveller with eight minutes remaining to grab a point after Scott McTominay’s header early in the second half started the fightback.
“The positive thing is that we came back from going two goals behind but it’s not the right result. We wanted to win our first match of 2026 in front of our fans,” said Di Lorenzo. “I’m pleased for myself for the goal but it’s not enough.”
Inter’s win has piled pressure on Napoli, especially given the continued injury crisis affecting Antonio Conte’s squad. (AFP)
