Internazionale took a new step towards the nineteenth national title on Thursday evening. The team of trainer Antonio Conte was 1-2 too strong on a visit to Parma and thus took full advantage of the loss of points of pursuer and fellow city rivals AC Milan, which on Wednesday evening did not get further than a 1-1 draw against Udinese. The lead of Inter, which entered the entire game with Stefan de Vrij, is now six points. At Parma, Graziano Pellè made his long-awaited return to Serie A, after the striker spent the past five in China.
Inter, which kept a clean sheet in Serie A in the last three away games, also barely ran into problems against Parma in the first half. The first opportunity was noted by the home team, when Jasmin Kurtic towered above everyone after fifteen minutes of play and forced Samir Handanovic to make a save. After half an hour of play, Inter became dangerous for the first time through Achraf Hakimi, but his cross from the right side of the field was passed close by by Christian Eriksen, who failed to score his first league goal of the season.
The visitors from Milan kept insisting and not much later became dangerous again. Milan Skriniar received a passed corner kick, but saw that his effort was taken off the goal line. Also a shot by Romelu Lukaku, who came one-on-one with goalkeeper Luigi Sepe, did not produce a hit. In the second half, the opening goal was not long in coming. Alexis Sánchez, who was on the verge of being replaced, was lucky enough to get the ball in front of him and then finished off the turn with the left. Riccardo Gagliolo rushed to the goal line, but was too late to avoid the 0-1.
Conte then decided to leave Sánchez in the lines and watched the Chilean pay back the confidence after an hour of play, when Lukaku put the ball wide after a quick breakout and awarded the goal to the winger: 0-2. The match seemed to be decided, but suddenly became tense when Parma produced the tying goal out of nowhere twenty minutes before the end. Giuseppe Pezzella provided a measured cross from the left, after which Hernani signed for his fifth of the season at the far post with a handsome volley. Parma coach Roberto D’Aversa then granted Pellè his debut and return to Serie A in the final phase, but could not prevent Inter from winning the line.