The return of Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku together failed to light sparks, as Sampdoria held Inter to a goalless draw, allowing Napoli to go 15 points clear at the top of the table.
The Nerazzurri brought back the LuLa strike partnership from the start for the first time in Serie A since August, with only Joaquin Correa still on the absentee list and Marcelo Brozovic not risked. Samp had Medhi Leris suspended, plus Koray Gunter, Ignacio Pussetto and Andrea Conti injured, while Omar Colley was sold to Besiktas. It was a special game for the coaches, as Dejan Stankovic won the Treble at Inter and was Simone Inzaghi’s teammate at Lazio.
It was an aggressive start, Lukaku’s shot palmed over the bar and Henrikh Mkhitaryan drilling wide, while Lautaro Martinez fired straight at Emil Audero.
Hakan Calhanoglu also hit a daisy-cutter just past the near post and Michael Cuisance tested Andre Onana from distance, but the Sam Lammers back-heel flick didn’t have enough power to surprise the goalkeeper.
There continued to be efforts off target from Robin Gosens, Lautaro Martinez, Manolo Gabbiadini and Bruno Amione’s glancing header on a corner.
Denzel Dumfries saw his strike charged down by the back of Harry Winks and Calhanoglu’s effort was smothered by Audero, but Dimarco’s free kick didn’t dip enough.
Calhanoglu went close on 80 minutes with a ferocious shot from the D that swerved just past the far post and Fabio Quagliarella flashed a ball across the six-yard box with nobody ready for the tap-in.
Inter’s best chance was in stoppages, as Francesco Acerbi let rip from 20 yards out, forcing Audero to slap it onto the crossbar as it swerved mid-air.
Lautaro Martinez also failed to make the most of a Dimarco assist in a mad scramble.
Sampdoria 0-0 Inter
You can check the full line-ups and statistics from Sampdoria-Inter here.