Bologna 0 Inter Milan 1: Gabriel ‘Gabigol’ Barbosa nets first goal for Serie A side since summer move to clinch all three points with nine minutes remaining
Champions League-chasing Nerazzurri were made to work for victory against side beaten 7-1 by Napoli in last home match
GABRIEL ‘GABIGOL’ BARBOSA scored his first Inter Milan goal to hand the Nerazzurri all three points against a spirited Bologna side.
Stefano Pioli’s men have been on an impressive run since the turn of the year.
A four-match Serie A winning streak was interrupted by a tempestuous 1-0 defeat at Juventus.
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But they bounced back with a 2-0 win against Empoli and are right in the thick of the fight for the Champions League places.
Bologna came into this match with just one point in 2017 and still smarting from the 7-1 hammering by Napoli in their last home match.
However, they provided stubborn resistance as they made sure not to suffer another stuffing in front of their own fans.
But Ivan Perisic, who was red carded in that match, came back into the fold.
S, the Croat — as well as Eder and Antonio Candreva — providing attacking support for Rodrigo Palacio, who was handed a rare start.
But Inter couldn’t break the stubborn home side down and the game was scoreless after the interval.
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Gabigol, who was a summer target for Manchester United, Barcelona and Juventus, has struggled since his £25million-move to the San Siro and even looked likely to leave in January.
But, with the game seemingly petering out to a draw, Pioli withdrew Candreva and introduced the Brazilian on 74 minutes.
And it took Gabigol just seven minutes to make the decisive impact.
Danilo D’Ambrosio put a ball across the face of the goal and Inter’s No.96 — seriously — was on hand to tap into an empty net.
But there was still work to be done as goalkeeper, Samir Handanovic, had to be alert to make a vital stop from the onrushing Vasilis Torosidis in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
One negative for Inter was a booking picked up by Joao Miranda, which means the defender will miss the important clash with Roma next weekend.