Genoa 1-1 Inter: Regrettable draw

Goal
Genoa:Dragusin (45+7')
Inter Milan:Arnautovic (42')

Inter Milan have won the 'Campioni d'Inverno' (winter champions) title after going four games without conceding a goal. Typically, the teams that lead the midway point of most Serie A seasons go on to win the Scudetto a few months later, so Inter will be aiming to make it five wins in a row in Serie A when they travel to newcomers Genoa.

Determined to confirm his position as winter champions and leave second-placed Juventus far behind in the title race, coach Simone Inzaghi fielded his strongest squad, with the unfortunate absence of captain Lautaro Martinez. However, Genoa have shown that Luigi Ferraris is a sacred place that any big team needs to be wary of when visiting.

Despite being the team that dominated the ball possession (53%), the game that Inter Milan created was not too superior to Genoa. After almost the entire first half, facing Genoa's very solid defense, the top team found the opening goal in the 43rd minute. Striker Marko Arnautovic, who replaced Lautaro, broke the deadlock when he accurately shot after Nicolo Barella's shot hit the post.

However, Inter Milan's lead did not last long, because in the 7th minute of injury time of the first half, the home team Genoa equalized after a high header by center-back Radu Matei Dragusin from a corner kick from Albert Gudmundsson.

In the second half, Inter Milan still controlled the ball, but did not create many opportunities to approach goalkeeper Josep Martinez's goal. In fact, Genoa were the ones who had many dangerous counter-attacks and if they were lucky, they could have scored a goal.

The 1-1 draw was maintained until the end of the match, Inter Milan ended their winning streak and missed the opportunity to leave Juventus far behind in the rankings when they only had 45 points after 18 rounds, 5 points more but had played 1 more match. This gap could be narrowed if Juventus defeats AS Roma in the late match tonight.

In a number of matches last night, defending champions Napoli continued their poor performance when they were held to a goalless draw by Monza. Fiorentina beat Torino with the minimum score, while Lazio came from behind to beat Frosinone 3-1 to move closer to the Top 4.

Line-up

Genoa:Josep Martinez, Sabelli, Bani, Martin, Dragusin, De Winter, Strootman, Badelj, Frendrup, Gudmundsson, Ekuban
Inter Milan:Sommer, Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni, Bisseck, Augusto, Mkhitaryan, Calhanoglu, Barella, Arnautovic, Thuram