Having not beaten Inter in a Serie A H2H since 1992, negotiating the opening stages without falling behind would’ve been first on Verona’s checklist for success.
However, that list was ripped up inside the opening five minutes, as Lautaro Martínez was quickest to react to a loose ball on the edge of the area before rifling home low into the bottom corner, handing Inter the perfect start.
The third-minute strike represented his second-quickest goal in Italian top-flight action, beaten only by a goal inside 180 seconds against Sassuolo in October 2019.
Despite the best efforts of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Inter’s lead remained a slender one at the break, with his deflected effort drifting agonisingly wide of the post off what looked to be a Verona arm, though VAR disagreed with the Armenian’s claim.
Inter then thought they’d doubled their advantage shortly after the hour mark, when Martínez wrestled Federico Ceccherini off the ball and fired home his second of the day.
The referee had other ideas though, insisting Martínez had been over-zealous in his attempts to win the ball back, keeping Inter’s lead at just one.
