Marcus Thuram nets late on as Inter Milan beat Como to keep pressure on leaders

Marcus Thuram scored at the death as Inter Milan recorded a 2-0 victory over Como to move within three points of Serie A leaders Atalanta.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan missed the best chance to punish the visitors’ double mistake in a goalless first half at San Siro, where last season’s scudetto winners were initially frustrated by Como’s determined defensive effort.

Carlos Augusto opened the scoring in the 48th minute and might have prevented the visitors from equalising with a timely intervention later in the period.

Thuram – who had already missed a few good chances – finally got his name on the scoresheet with a fine top-corner finish, late in second-half stoppage-time.

Inter, who thrashed Lazio 6-0 in their last league outing, have a game in hand over both Atalanta and second-placed Napoli.

Como’s back line denied Thuram an early opener from the six-yard box, but the visitors later nearly punished for some loose defending twice in quick succession.

After first giving the ball away in midfield, Como then came close to gifting an early opener when Marc-Oliver Kempf nodded straight into the path of Mkhitaryan, who was unable to take advantage of his good fortune with a wide effort.

It remained the only real chance as the midway point of the half approached and Como could not capitalise on a couple of set pieces.

Nico Paz finally gave Yann Sommer some work to do, but his effort from distance was easily stopped by the Inter goalkeeper, who then denied Alieu Fadera.

Inter probably should have opened the scoring when Denzel Dumfries brought down the ball and exchanged a one-two with Mkhitaryan before firing over the best chance of the half in the 33rd minute.

There was another promising spell for Como before the hosts took back control and Federico Dimarco called Pepe Reina into action once more before the break.

Thuram had another good chance to break the deadlock at the start of the second half but was blocked by a visiting defender inside the six-yard box.

But Augusto found the opener from the resulting set-piece, rising highest to nod Inter in front from Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner after 48 minutes.

Augusto then made a brilliant block to keep out Andrea Belotti’s dangerous cross and there was an alert save to deny another sharp effort from Paz.

Inter worked their way back into Como’s half, where Yan Bisseck nodded over from a free-kick, Lautaro Martinez blazed an effort over and Federico Dimarco had the ball in the back of the net before the flag was raised.

The hosts squandered a corner and there was a fine one-handed save by an outstretched Reina to deny Mkhitaryan, before the visitors found themselves with just 10 minutes to find an equaliser.

Substitute Patrick Cutrone nodded a half-chance off-target with less than four minutes remaining.

Thuram at last made a chance count, outsmarting marker Federico Barba before rifling the ball into the top right to seal maximum points.