LECCE, ITALY — Internazionale's title charge rolled on with a 0-2 victory over a dogged Lecce side at Via Del Mare, though it took a late flurry to finally break the hosts' resistance. Manuel Akanji, introduced as a second-half substitute, proved the decisive figure with a brace in the final ten minutes, heading home from a Federico Dimarco cross in the 82nd minute before adding a second in stoppage time. For Lecce, sitting 17th in Serie A with 24 points and a season teetering on the edge, the defeat was another painful blow in a desperate fight for survival.
For long stretches, this looked like it might be one of those frustrating nights for the league leaders. Internazionale dominated the ball with 67.9% possession, pinning Lecce back for long stretches, but found goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone in inspired form. The Lecce stopper was called into action as early as the 10th minute, pushing away a Luis Henrique effort assisted by Dimarco's cross. Marcus Thuram then tested him from close range in the 22nd minute, with Falcone producing a sharp stop to tip the ball away at the top centre of the goal. Francesco Pio Esposito added to Falcone's workload in the 26th minute, only to be denied again by the increasingly impressive custodian.
The second half brought more of the same. Inter's pressure was relentless — they launched 24 shots at goal compared to Lecce's three — but Falcone continued to frustrate. A Federico Dimarco effort in the 79th minute, assisted by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, was palmed away, and the hosts were further aided by a VAR intervention in the 51st minute that ruled out what appeared to be an Inter goal, with Marcus Thuram adjudged offside in the build-up. Lecce's defensive organisation, marshalled with grit and determination, kept the scoreline level deep into the second half.
The breakthrough, when it finally arrived, came from a set piece. Inter had won 10 corners throughout the evening, and it was from one such delivery that the deadlock was broken. Dimarco's cross from the corner found Akanji arriving with purpose at the far post, and the Swiss defender powered his header to the bottom right corner in the 82nd minute. It was a moment of clinical execution that Lecce's resistance had been unable to prevent. Seven minutes earlier, Mkhitaryan had opened Inter's account — a right-footed finish from the centre of the box following another corner in the 75th minute — though the goal sequence in the data places Akanji's header as the second of the two, confirming the 75th-minute Mkhitaryan strike as the opener and the 82nd-minute header as the clincher.
Akanji, introduced from the bench in the 60th minute alongside Mkhitaryan, transformed the game entirely. Both substitutes were central to Inter's late surge, demonstrating the depth of Simone Inzaghi's squad and their ability to change matches from the bench. Davide Frattesi also provided energy in the closing stages, while Alessandro Bastoni was cautioned in the 87th minute before being replaced by Carlos Augusto.
By the numbers, the statistics told the story of Inter's dominance with brutal clarity. Internazionale launched 24 shots at goal compared to Lecce's three, with nine finding the target against none for the hosts. Falcone's six saves were the only reason the scoreline remained respectable for as long as it did — a heroic individual performance in a losing cause. Lecce managed just 32.1% possession and two corners all evening, a statistical picture that underlines how thoroughly they were outplayed, even if the scoreline only reflected that in the final quarter of the match.
For Lecce, who host Como on March 1, the challenge is immediate and urgent — three points against a fellow mid-table side could prove vital in their bid to escape the drop zone. Inter, meanwhile, travel to Genoa on the same date, and with a 37-point gap over the chasing pack, the Scudetto is increasingly a matter of when, not if.