Ranocchia goes down with cramp but after a quick stretch he's back on his feet.
87'
Inter become a little too casual in possession as Petagna pinches Valero's pocket. Space briefly opens up for the striker before Skriniar restores order.
85'
With five minutes to go both sides seem to be taking it easy. Valero has all the time in the world to knock balls around the middle of the pitch.
82'
G. Tunjov enters the game and replaces A. Murgia.
B. Salamon enters the game and replaces F. Vicari.
Murgia is substituted for the 19-year old Tunjov.
Vicari is hauled off for Salamon. He's had a tough time out there.
79'
L. Pirola enters the game and replaces A. Candreva.
S. Esposito enters the game and replaces A. Sánchez.
Candreva is off for Pirola.
75'
F. Di Francesco enters the game and replaces A. Cerri.
Di Francesco comes on for Cerri.
74'
R. Gagliardini has scored a goal for Inter Milan! Assist by A. Young.
Borja Valero enters the game and replaces R. Gagliardini.
It's the easiest of finishes for Gagliardini as the ball comes back across the face of goal and he taps into an empty net.
After getting his goal Gagliardini now comes off for Valero.
Young took his time to look up and calmly fizz a ball across the goal to find Gagliardini.
71'
Conte's sides always know how to defend. A rare SPAL attack briefly looks dangerous before the Inter defenders swarm Petagna and close out the danger.
67'
T. Cionek enters the game and replaces A. Reca.
Reca comes off for Cionek.
Minute
Description
66'
M. D'Alessandro enters the game and replaces Gabriel Strefezza.
Strefezza, who has had some nice touches, is replaced by D'Alessandro.
65'
Inter are now camped inside SPAL's half who simply can't hold onto the ball.
63'
D. D'Ambrosio enters the game and replaces A. Bastoni.
A. Young enters the game and replaces C. Biraghi.
The second goalscorer Biraghi comes off for Young.
Bastoni is replaced by D'Ambrosio.
62'
A. Ranocchia gets yellow.
SPAL are looking dangerous on the counter before Ranocchia chops down his man and collects a yellow card.
60'
A. Sánchez has scored a goal for Inter Milan! Assist by C. Biraghi.
Sanchez starts the move before getting on the end of a cross with a powerful headed goal.
It's a lovely whipped cross from Biraghi as he accurately finds Sanchez with that assist.
57'
Despite securing that crucial second goal Inter are still pressing for more. Brozovic is pushing his side forward with his incisive passing.
55'
C. Biraghi has scored a goal for Inter Milan!
Goal! 2-0 Inter! Biraghi collects the ball on the edge of the box, cuts in on his right, and slots into the bottom corner. That's a really tidy finish.
54'
C. Biraghi gets yellow.
Biraghi picks up a yellow. The card count is starting to rise.
53'
Can SPAL find a way into this game? They launch consecutive balls forward but the Inter defence is not troubled.
51'
A. Murgia gets yellow.
Murgia comes flying in as Inter look to break and is punished with a yellow card.
49'
SPAL look very well organised when defending set pieces as they comfortably clear Inter's free-kick.
47'
Sanchez continues to be a menace as he draws in defenders on the right hand-side. He is then able to release Martinez who is fouled right on the edge of the box. Dangerous position.
46'
M. Valdifiori gets yellow.
Valdifiori picks up a yellow for a cynical foul in the middle of the pitch.
And we're back underway!
Sanchez is fouled again as he easily beats his man. He has had a lot of that in this game.
45' +2
HALF TIME: SPAL 0-1 INTER
45' +1
Oh dear. Petagna blazes the free-kick high up into the stands.
45'
SPAL have won a free kick about 35 yards out. A few players look interested in shooting.
37'
A. Candreva has scored a goal for Inter Milan! Assist by A. Sánchez.
GOAL! 1-0 Inter! A beautiful move from Inter as they work it from left to right before Candreva buries the ball back across the keeper from just inside the box.
Sanchez does well to get his head up as he gathers the ball under pressure and calmly slides it to Candreva.
33'
Inter are still searching for a clinical edge in the final third. Martinez drives well down the right but his cross is far too close to Letica who gathers easily.
32'
A. Bastoni gets yellow.
Bastoni picks up a routine yellow card as he clatters the quick-footed Strefezza.
30'
Eriksen delivers a peach of a cross as Inter go short from a corner which just grazes the head of Martinez. Very close!
29'
SPAL's directness is causing Inter some trouble. They are getting the ball high up the pitch as quickly as possible.
28'
Petagna does really well to fire a cross across Handanovic's goal but Cerri can't quite get across to it.
24'
Despite being bottom of the league SPAL play some nice stuff at times as they quickly move the ball in a congested area.
23'
Inter work the ball well to Sanchez who fires a shot wide from 25 yards. He has been their brightest player so far.
22'
Wonderful trickery from Sanchez who skips past two SPAL defenders before overcooking a long ball forward.
21'
Despite having barely played this season Ranocchia is looking composed at the back for Inter as they patiently knock the ball around.
19'
That Petagna chance seems to have fired up the SPAL players a little as they push into the Inter box once more.
14'
Gorgeous football from Inter as Sanchez finds Eriksen in the box. He clips it to the back post but Letica is able to gather.
13'
Eriken whips a beautiful free-kick into the box but somehow it gets through everybody and goes out.
12'
Martinez is bundled down high up the pitch on the right-hand side. Eriksen stands over the free-kick in a dangerous position.
11'
Inter go raiding into the SPAL box and Brozovic does really well to keep play alive as he beautifully traps a cleared ball.
9'
There's been quite a few fouls in this opening 10 minutes. Both sides seem to be well up for it.
8'
Eriksen gives away a cheap foul in the middle of the pitch but SPAL are then too wasteful in possession and lose it quickly.
6'
Inter have another corner but it's a poor one. Easily cleared by the first man.
5'
Inter have started positively with lots of willing runners as Eriksen can't quite get to an incisive ball in behind.
3'
The next corner from Inter is well defended again by SPAL as Inter are forced to reset in posession.
2'
Sanchez quickly gets on the ball inside his own half and beats one man before being brought down for a foul.
Inter have a corner from the right that is well cleared by Dabo. He took a knock in the process but is quickly up on his feet.
1'
And we're underway!
Hello everyone and welcome to live text coverage of the Serie A, as SPAL and Inter go head to head.
It has been a difficult season for SPAL who have managed to secure just 5 victories so far, and they have also lost 23 of their games. This leaves them rooted to the bottom of the table with the prospect of relegation looming. Meanwhile Inter sit in 4th place and a win today would move them up into second, within 6 points of leaders Juventus. Is a late title charge possible for Antonio Conte’s men?
SPAL (4-4-2): Karlo Letica; Arkadiusz Reca, Franceso Vitari, Kevin Bonifazi, Jacopo Sala; Gabriel Strefezza, Bryan Dabo, Mirko Valdifiori, Alessandro Murgia; Alberto Cerri, Andrea Petagna.
SPAL SUBS: Thiago Cionek, Simone Missiroli, Sergio Floccari, Lucas Castro, Demba Thiam, Felipe, Federico Di Franceso, Nenad Tomovic, Marco Meneghetti, Bartosz Salamon, Marco D’Alessandro, Georgi Tunjov.
INTER (3-4-1-2): Samir Handanovic; Milan Skriniar, Andrea Ranocchia, Alessandro Bastoni; Cristiano Biraghi, Marcelo Brozovic, Roberto Gagliardini, Antonio Candreva; Christian Eriksen; Alexis Sanchez, Lautaro Martinez.
INTER SUBS: Stefan de Vrij, Victor Moses, Ashley Young, Kwadwo Asamoah, Borja Valero, Daniele Padelli, Sebastiano Esposito, Lorenzo Pirola, Lucien Agoume, Danilo D’Ambrosio, Tommaso Berni.
When these two teams met back in December Inter won 2-1 with Martinez bagging a brace. He will be hoping for more of the same as he looks to build on his current tally of 13 league goals so far this season.
The players are emerging from the tunnel and kick off is just seconds away!
Inter will now be hoping to quickly add more to the scoreline as they seek to close the gap at the top of the table. Another Inter goal would surely be too much for SPAL to come back from...
SPAL will go to Brescia next with their relegation from Serie A all but confirmed. Meanwhile, Inter take on Roma as part of a tricky run in of games including Fiorentina, Napoli, and Atalanta. They'll need to win all of these games to have any hope of catching Juventus at the top of the league.
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