MILAN (AP) — Shortly after Inter Milan president Giuseppe Marotta lamented that the fixture list needed to be cut in order to safeguard the players, the Nerazzurri lost two key members of its team to injury on Sunday.
Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Francesco Acerbi were both forced off with muscular issues in the first half of Inter’s match at Roma.
Inter went on to win 1-0, thanks to a 60th-minute strike by Lautaro Martínez, to move back to within two points of Serie A leader Napoli, which had earlier beaten Empoli 1-0.
The match was the first of seven in 21 days in an intense period for Inter, which will also play more games than almost any other club this season. As well as the Italian league, Inter is involved in the Champions League, the Italian Cup and Italian Super Cup, and has qualified for the newly expanded Club World Cup.
“We have to live with the constant stress of so many games that the players are struggling to handle … we need to safeguard their health,” Marotta said before Sunday’s match.
“It is not an easy situation … but we need to sit around a table and recognize that the fixture list has to be cut back.”
Less than 12 minutes into the match, Çalhanoğlu asked to come off after experiencing discomfort in his left thigh and he was followed 15 minutes later by Acerbi who also appeared to have an injury to a muscle in the same place.
Both sides hit the woodwork in the first half. A cross from Lorenzo Pellegrini bounced out of the arms of Yann Sommer and onto the post but the Inter goalkeeper managed to catch the rebound.
Former Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan sent a powerful effort off the crossbar shortly afterward.
Inter broke the deadlock when Davide Frattesi raced down the right flank on the counterattack and his low cross was deflected to Lautaro to thump into the back of the net.
Conte inspires Napoli
Whatever Antonio Conte told his players at halftime must have worked as Napoli was much improved after the break.
Empoli was far the better team in the first period but it was to regret its missed opportunities as it was Napoli that took the lead in the 63rd minute after Tino Anjorin fouled Matteo Politano in the area.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia kept his cool and took a stuttering run-up, waiting for the goalkeeper to make his move before rolling the ball into the middle of the net.
That was the first goal the Empoli home fans had seen this season as all three previous league matches at the Stadio Carlo Castellani had ended 0-0.
Napoli has won six of its past seven Serie A matches since an opening day loss to Hellas Verona in Conte’s debut. The other match was a 0-0 draw at Juventus.
It was a second straight loss for Empoli, which had been unbeaten until it lost at Lazio before the international break.
More injuries
Albert Guðmundsson and Moise Kean also had to come off injured as Fiorentina romped to a 6-0 win at Lecce.
Danilo Cataldi and Andrea Colpani both scored twice before Lucas Beltrán and Fabiano Parisi completed the rout. It was the first time Fiorentina had scored six goals away from home in Serie A since 1966.
Despite an increasingly longer injury list, Atalanta eased to a 2-0 win at bottom club Venezia. Cagliari fought back to beat Torino 3-2.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Daniella Matar, The Associated Press
