Inter labours to draw with Sassuolo at San Siro
Inter rode its luck on the way to an underwhelming 0-0 home draw against Sassuolo in their first Serie A outing of 2019.
San Siro was closed to all but 11,000 local children as Inter began a two-match stadium closure AFTER the alleged racial abuse of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly last month, although there was no lack of intensity in an entertaining contest.
Matteo Politano and Kevin Prince-Boateng both went close to a winner either side of half-time but, unable to find a way past a team that conceded nine times in their final two league fixtures of last year, the Nerazzurri can have few complaints over a result that leaves them four points behind second-placed Napoli, which hosts Lazio on Monday (AEDT).
Inter had lost seven of its last eight Serie A meetings with Sassuolo and found itself on the back foot during the opening 25 minutes.
Manuel Locatelli burst through midfield and fired one shot wide while Boateng and Domenico Berardi both tested Samir Handanovic.
The impressive Politano helped turn the tide by posing problems at the other end and, from Ivan Perisic's cross, forced Andrea Consigli into a sharp close-range save on the half-hour mark.
The end-to-end action continued after the interval as Boateng rose unchallenged to meet Locatelli's left-sided cross, but his header was straight at Handanovic.
Inter's grip on a point looked tenuous until the end and it was indebted to veteran goalkeeper Handanovic and centre-back Milan Skriniar for blocking close-range efforts from Jeremie Boga and Mehdi Bourabia amid a scramble in the box late in proceedings.