Spezia earned their first ever victory against Inter with Daniel Maldini and M’Bala Nzola, as Lautaro Martinez’s saved penalty and numerous wasted chances proved costly.
The Nerazzurri had to keep an eye on the upcoming Champions League trip to FC Porto after a 1-0 first leg win, but also potentially close the gap on leaders Napoli and stave off the chasing pack in Serie A. Milan Skriniar and Joaquin Correa were still injured, with Federico Dimarco not fully fit, as Marcelo Brozovic and Samir Handanovic got rare starts. Spezia made their debut under new coach Leonardo Semplici in last week’s Verona stalemate, but Arkadiusz Milik and reserve goalkeeper Federico Marchetti sat out bans, with Simone Bastoni, Emil Holm and Joao Moutinho sidelined, in a switch to 3-5-2 hoping for their first home win since September 2022.
Lautaro Martinez forced an early save from Bartlomiej Dragowski and Mattia Caldara went into a risky sliding tackle on Danilo D’Ambrosio after Medhi Bourabia had given it away cheaply in midfield. A penalty was given after the VAR review, but Lautaro Martinez’s effort was saved by Dragowski. The Argentine has converted only 11 of his 16 spot-kicks for Inter.
Romelu Lukaku blasted over from 10 yards and Lautaro Martinez tested Dragowski again from another D’Ambrosio cross, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s volley flashed just over from the D.
It was all Inter, yet Spezia almost scored on 32 minutes when Kevin Agudelo dribbled to the by-line and got a shot away from the tightest of angles, deflected to loop up and bounce off the top of the crossbar.
Barella’s flick sent Lautaro Martinez sprinting on the counter, but Dragowski flew to fingertip his finish over the bar, while Robin Gosens hit a fresh-air shot from 10 yards at the end of a good passing move.
Lautaro Martinez had the ball in the net within 60 seconds of the restart with a header, but it was disallowed due to an earlier Lukaku offside in the build-up.
Alessandro Bastoni turned over from close range after a series of corners, but it was Spezia who scored with their first genuine shot on target.
Dragowski was involved here too, a very long kick controlled by Nzola to shrug off Francesco Acerbi and D’Ambrosio and roll across for substitute Daniel Maldini to slot into the far bottom corner relatively undisturbed. It was only the third career Serie A goal for the son of Milan legend Paolo Maldini.
Simone Inzaghi made a quadruple substitution, Edin Dzeko’s effort charged down and a Hakan Calhanoglu scorcher skimming the far post from the edge of the box.
Lautaro Martinez’s header flashed wide on a corner and Marcelo Brozovic ballooned a volley off target, but Inter received their second penalty of the game when Salva Ferrer clumsily went to clear, not realising Denzel Dumfries was there first. This time, Lukaku stepped up and sent Dragowski the wrong way with a powerful spot-kick into the bottom corner to equalise.
However, moments later, Dumfries was on the other end of the situation, clumsily crashing into the back of Viktor Kovalenko when chesting down a cross for a Spezia penalty. Nzola converted powerfully into the near top corner, Handanovic almost getting his fingertips to it.
Inter poured forward, Caldara practically clearing the Dzeko cushioned volley off the line from a corner.
Spezia 2-1 Inter
Maldini 55 (S), Lukaku pen 83 (I), Nzola pen 87 (S)
Saved penalty: Lautaro Martinez 13 (I)
Player statistic
| Emmanuel Gyasi |  |
6' | ||
| Mattia Caldara | |
12' | ||
| 13' |  |
Lautaro Martínez |
| Daniel Maldini (Assist: M’Bala Nzola) |
 |
55' | ||
| Dimitrios Nikolaou | |
71' | ||
| 83' |  |
Romelu Lukaku | ||
| M’Bala Nzola | |
85' |
Match statistic
