Kristjan Asllani’s early penalty secured a narrow 1-0 win for Inter Milan over Hellas Verona, keeping the Nerazzurri firmly in the Serie A title race behind Napoli.
Facing pressure after Napoli’s earlier victory extended their lead at the top to six points, Inter Milan responded with a strong start at the San Siro.
A VAR review awarded the hosts a penalty for a handball by Nicolas Valentini, and Asllani converted calmly—his first league goal of the season.
Inter nearly doubled their lead soon after, with Nicola Zalewski’s long-range strike forcing a smart save from Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipò.
Despite Inter Milan’s early dominance, Verona grew into the match and held firm for the remainder of the half, as Marko Arnautović squandered two headed chances.
Without top scorer Lautaro Martínez and with Marcus Thuram on the bench, Inter Milan struggled to create clear openings in the second half.
Verona, desperate to avoid a third straight defeat, threatened through Ondrej Duda and Tomáš Suslov, who both came close.
With a Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona looming, Inter opted to manage the game and preserve energy.
The visitors pushed for a late equalizer, but Inter’s defense held strong to claim their eighth straight home league win over Verona and extend their unbeaten home run in this fixture to 35 matches (W23, D11).
Verona will look to break a six-game winless streak when they face Lecce next weekend.
