A goal from Edin Dzeko proved enough for Inter to beat Sassuolo in their final winter friendly, but Henrikh Mkhitaryan had an injury scare.

The Nerazzurri had their last test run before the Serie A season resumes with a Scudetto showdown against Napoli on January 4.

Lautaro Martinez and Marcelo Brozovic are still not available after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with Stefan de Vrij injured.

Mkhitaryan had an unlucky game at the Mapei Stadium, as first he misplaced a pass that Romelu Lukaku was just waiting to tap in, saw a goal disallowed for the tightest of offside calls on a fantastic Nicolò Barella through ball, then limped off at the dawn of the second half with a hip problem.

According to Sky Sport Italia, he was substituted largely as a precaution, but it is something to keep an eye on ahead of the Napoli match.

Jeremie Toljan made a decisive interception on Federico Dimarco and Davide Frattesi would’ve gone clear on goal if not for a perfectly-timed Barella sliding tackle.

The goal came at the 63rd minute, when Alessandro Bastoni won back the ball in midfield and immediately set up Dzeko.

There was almost a second, Gianluca Pegolo parrying a Dimarco cross for Dzeko to volley just off target.

Pegolo did better when denying Roberto Gagliardini from close range and Lukaku saw the rebound charged down by Ruan Tressoldi.

Sassuolo 0-1 Inter

Dzeko 63 (I)

Sassuolo: Pegolo (Russo 84); Toljan (Kiriakopoulos 84), Ruan Tressoldi (Romagna 84), Ferrari (Ayhan 84), Rogerio (Marchizza 72); Traoré (Antiste 84), Henrique (Harroui 84), Frattesi (Obiang 72); Defrel (D’Andrea 72), Pinamonti (Alvarez 72), Ceide (Thorstvedt 59)

Inter: Onana; Skriniar (D’Ambrosio 71), Acerbi, Bastoni (Darmian 71); Bellanova (Dumfries 71), Barella (Zanotti 84), Calhanoglu (Asllani 71), Mkhitaryan (Gagliardini 49), Dimarco (Gosens 71); Dzeko (Correa 71), Lukaku (Carboni 84)

One thought on “Dzeko goal and Mkhitaryan concern after Sassuolo-Inter”
  1. Yeah, shame Inter not take chances with relatively very good defender even tho statistically this year not that good to evaluate wing, mid and attacker. next year the chances of very unbalanced team is really concern us. Especially with this owner and circus staff. Very Sad.

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