Inter’s hopes of retaining the Serie A title live to see another day after an important 2-1 win away against Udinese.

The Nerzzurri started off things calmly and broke the deadlock in the 12th minute when Ivan Perisic headed home a Federico Dimarco corner.

Lautaro Martinez doubled Inter’s lead in the 39th minute scoring his own rebound from a penalty which hit the post as well as touched Udinese goalkeeper Silvestri.

Udinese got one back midway through the second half but failed to create anything more dangerous than that and Inter go home with the three points.

Samir Handanovic – 7: One difficult save to make but he remained calm and tried to assure his team from the first minute. Unlucky to concede after a great save.

Milan Skriniar – 6.5: The only player who produces consistent performances regardless of the pressure of the moment. Constantly shut down attacks for fun.

Stefan De Vrij – 6.5: Did not make any mistakes and got his basics right. Udinese did not press him much and he used that time on the ball to significant effect. Calm.

Federico Dimarco – 6.5: Brilliant set pieces today and deserved the assist .Good positioning saved him a couple of times as his defending did not inspire confidence.

Matteo Darmian – 6.5: Darmian did what Darmian does. Good defensively but always missing a step-in attack. The second half was a lesson in how to keep a lead.

Nicolo Barella – 6: Just a few runs at the start of each half but nowhere near his best. Hopefully his injury is not serious, he looked tired in the first half itself.

Marcelo Brozovic – 6: Had a lot of time on the ball as Dionisi set his team up for a low block. Did not manage to use it as well as he would have liked. Not his best.

Roberto Gagliardini – 5.5: Lots of running but his passes were usually returned to sender which slowed down Inter’s tempo and let Udinese settle into their positions.

Ivan Perisic – 7: Just like Barella he looks tired but managed his energy effectively. Solid in defence and always looking for opportunities to attack spaces.

Lautaro Martinez – 6: Took 30 mins to get going and have an impact on the game. Did not click with Dzeko in any meaningful move and got lucky with the penalty.

Edin Dzeko – 5.5: It seems like Dzeko has aged 5 years in 5 months. Played passes and crosses to nobody. Only thing he did right today was win the penalty.

Alexis Sanchez – 6.5: Brought some much-needed impact and energy in the forward line. Tries too hard to win free kicks when he can actually keep the ball.

Joaquin Correa – 6: Correa did not have the same sort of impact as Alexis. Always wanted the ball and created a goal that was ruled offside. Still not 100% fit.

Arturo Vidal – 5.5: Struggled to keep up with the pace of the game even if the other players had already played 75 mins.Poor on the offside goal too. Finished?

Danilo D’Ambrosio – N/A: Did his job with minimum fuss and used his experience. Maybe he should have come on 10 mins earlier and sealed the clean sheet. Classy.

Matias Vecino – N/A: Thrown on as Barella had an issue with his knee. Still managed to get a booking far away from goal. Rusty and thankfully on the way out.

Simone Inzaghi – 5: Simone Inzaghi is still trying to make Dzeko-Lautaro work. The subs were too late but to his credit the mentality from his boys was decent.

Daniele Chiffi – 6: Used VAR well and frequently. All major decisions were spot on. Did not let the match go out of control and kept the bookings to a minimum.

Inter – 6: Important win to keep the Serie A race alive even though Inter’s chances are slim. The end could have been more comfortable though.

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