Inter victorious, Atalanta held

Milan, Jan. 23: Edin Dzeko headed Inter Milan five points clear at the top of Serie A on Saturday with his last gasp strike in a 2-1 win over Venezia, while a severely depleted Atalanta held Lazio to a goalless draw.

The champions were heading for a frustrating draw at the San Siro after Nicolo Barella had levelled Thomas Henry’s early opener for the away side, but Bosnian forward Dzeko struck in the 90th minute with his first goal in nine matches in all competitions to snatch a dramatic win which extends Inter’s lead on AC Milan.

Milan now need to beat Champions League chasing Juventus on Sunday night to make sure that their local rivals do not start to pull away from the chasing pack before the Milan derby after the coming international break.

Dzeko’s winner relieves the pressure on a tired looking Inter, who were below their best against spirited opposition who had come into the game hit with a host of Covid-19 cases.

Third placed Napoli are now seven points behind Simone Inzaghi’s side ahead of their regional derby with bottom side Salernitana on Sunday afternoon.

Meanehile, fourth placed Atalanta showed their tougher side as they came away from the Stadio Olimpico with a point despite having a huge chunk of their first choice lineup missing through injury or Covid positives.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, who hold the last Champions League spot, can however be overtaken by Juve who are two points behind in fifth ahead of their showdown with Milan at the San Siro.

After the match Gasperini confirmed that Ilicic was again struggling with mental health issues, saying he’s been having “ups and downs” after suffering with similar issues in 2020.

“It’s never easy for me to talk about this because it’s extremely personal, but I can say we will always be by his side,” he told to Sky Sport Italia.