Inter 1-0 Milan: Martinez inflicts more misery on sorry Rossoneri

The
in-form
Martinez,
handed
the
captain’s
armband
by
Simone
Inzaghi,
took
his
goal
tally
for
the
season
to
15
by
opening
the
scoring
with
a
header
in
a
totally
one-sided
first
half
at
San
Siro
on
Sunday
(February
5).

Milan
failed
to
register
a
shot
on
target
in
a
lacklustre
display
that
increased
their
winless
run
to
seven
matches,
putting
more
pressure
on
head
coach
Stefano
Pioli.

Second-placed
Inter
moved
five
points
clear
of
their
city
rivals
behind
runaway
Serie
A
leaders
Napoli,
with
the
Rossoneri
down
in
sixth
spot
as
their
dismal
start
to
the
year
continued.

Martinez
forced
a
magnificent
reflex
save
from
Ciprian
Tatarusanu
and
also
headed
just
wide
in
a
blistering
start
from
the
Nerazzurri.

Inzaghi’s
side
were
dominant,
but
referee
Davide
Massa
correctly
refused
to
award
them
a
penalty
when
Edin
Dzeko
went
down
too
easily
under
a
challenge
from
Matteo
Gabbia.

It
seemed
to
be
only
a
matter
of
time
before
Inter
were
in
front,
though,
and
the
opening
goal
duly
arrived
in
the
34th
minute,
when
the
lively
Martinez
rose
above
Simon
Kjaer
to
nod
in
Hakan
Calhanoglu’s
corner
from
the
left.

It
remained
one-way
traffic
following
the
break,
Tatarusanu
palming
away
Martinez’s
shot
at
his
near
post
after
Pioli
introduced
Rafael
Leao
and
Alexis
Saelemaekers.

Olivier
Giroud
finally
had
Milan’s
first
attempt
after
57
minutes,
but
his
header
sailed
over
the
crossbar
and
was
never
going
to
trouble
Andre
Onana.

Further
goals
instead
appeared
more
likely
at
the
other
end.

Romelu
Lukaku
had
one
ruled
out
when
he
was
deemed
to
have
dragged
down
Malick
Thiaw,
and
Martinez
had
another
chalked
off
for
a
marginal
offside,
but
his
first-half
finish
proved
decisive.