Inter provisionally reclaim Serie A top spot after narrow win
Inter Milan moved provisionally back atop Serie A with a 1-0 win over Genoa on Saturday, while Roma's poor run of results continued as Torino snatched a 1-1 draw against Rudi Garcia's side.
The Serbia international's goal secured the points for Inter, but the win was far from emphatic and it was marred by the 86th minute sending-off of Danilo D'Ambrosio for a second bookable offense.
Inter had started well with Felipe Melo firing over the bar in the second minute, before Ljajic came close and a long-range Jonathan Biabiany effort was saved by Mattia Perin. The Genoa goalkeeper also proved equal to efforts by Ljajic and Stevan Jovetic, before a tame first half came to a close without the struggling visitors having summoned a chance of note.
Tomas Rincon blazed a rare Genoa effort well wide of target early in the second period, before Diogo Figueiras missed a real chance to put the visitors ahead when his low shot was well saved by Samir Handanovic. Genoa's best spell of the game came to an abrupt end in the 59th minute when a Figueiras foul set up the free-kick from which Ljajic broke the deadlock with a low strike into the bottom corner.
D'Ambrosio was shown his first yellow card for a careless challenge in the 69th minute as the game became increasingly scrappy, then Rodrigo Palacio missed a chance to make it safe. And D'Ambrosio was dismissed four minutes from time for a foul on Diego Perotti, but the visitors did not have the chance to make their numerical advantage pay.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
