Matteo Darmian was delighted after Inter strengthened their Serie A title chances with victory over Sassuolo tonight.
Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez scored goals in either half to secure a 2-1 win for Antonio Conte’s side at San Siro.
Hamed Traore pulled one back for Sassuolo with five minutes left but it wasn’t enough deny Inter a tenth straight win in Serie A, taking them 11 points clear of AC Milan at the top.
“We picked up a hugely important win today,” Darmian told Inter TV after the final whistle.
“We defended well, although Sassuolo didn’t create too many chances.
“We knew they’d commit lots of players forward and that this would open up space for us to attack, which is what we tried to do.
“We did a good job of scoring in the first half, then to defend and double our lead.
“We struggled at times but it’s important to win these kinds of matches for sure.”
Darmian played in an unusual centre-back role today in order to replace the suspended Alessandro Bastoni.
The former Manchester United defender did everything that was asked of him against the Neroverdi – although as Darmian pointed out, this wasn’t his first experience playing in that position.
“I’ve already played at centre-back under Conte with the Italian national team,” Darmian recalled.
“I try to make sure I’m available when needed and I give my all.”
Inter seem particularly confident and clinical during this phase of the season and Darmian believes that is down to their excellent run of form.
“We’re certainly aware of how strong we are,” he added.
“It certainly helps to win 10 games on the bounce, but we need to keep our feet on the ground.
“We need stay concentrated with the right level of desire because there are lots of games left.
“If we want to achieve something important then we’ll have to win as much as possible.”
