Inter managed to keep the pressure on Serie A pacesetters Milan with a sixth successive league win in their 2-1 victory over Spezia on Sunday. (More Football News)
Antonio Conte's men were by no means impressive at San Siro as they initially struggled to break down the away side, but in the end goals from Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku were enough to keep them a point behind city rivals Milan.
Inter had scored 30 goals in their first 12 Serie A matches of the season for only the ninth time in their history, but there was no sign of such potency during a drab first half that saw the Nerazzurri fail to exert any real control over their promoted visitors.
They briefly clicked into gear early in the second period and that brought Hakimi's opener before Lukaku doubled the lead from the spot with 20 minutes to go, rendering Roberto Piccoli's late strike a mere consolation.
Inter's start was relatively bright, as Ashley Young saw a threatening left-wing cross tipped just wide by Ian Provedel and Lautaro Martinez headed Marcelo Brozovic's free-kick over soon after in the 12th minute.
But otherwise Spezia coped admirably with the hosts' frontline and spent long periods dictating the tempo, even shading Inter in the possession stakes at the halfway point.
Spezia were carved open in the 51st minute, however.
Young's long ball was knocked down by Lukaku to Martinez, who in turn fed Hakimi with a throughball and the wing-back found the bottom-right corner with a precise finish from a tight angle just inside the box.
Inter effectively wrapped up the win when M'Bala Nzola blocked a cross with his arm and, following a VAR review, Lukaku coolly converted the kick.
Piccoli pulled one back for Spezia deep into stoppage time, reaching a deflected cross ahead of Matteo Darmian to prod home, though it came too late to be anything more than a consolation.
