Seria A holders Inter struggled to impress before ultimately coming away with a 1-0 win over relegation candidate Venezia.

Scorers: Martínez 65′

The repeat Scudetto hopefuls came into matchday 11 sitting just four points off leaders Napoli thanks to four wins and a draw in their last five outings while looking to close the gap before their vital clash against each other next weekend.

Venezia sat just outside the relegation zone and were looking to keep their recent patch of form after taking four points from six available thanks to a win over Udinese and a draw at Monza.

Despite the difference in the table, Inter struggled to fire on all cylinders in front of home support at the San Siro, with both Marcus Thuram and Henrikh Mkhitaryan failing to convert big chances in the first half against loanee Filip Stanković.

Gaetano Oristanio nearly gave Venezia a shock one-goal lead in the dying minutes of the opening 45 minutes with a chance from inside the six-yard box.

Fortunately for Simone Inzaghi’s men, Yann Sommer denied the 22-year-old Italian after Joel Pohjanpalo’s squared ball across the face of goal left him with just the Swiss veteran to beat.

It would be Sommer again to come up big for Inter just moments after Mkhitaryan thought he gave the home side the advantage, with the former Borussia Mönchengladbach fan-favorite denying Pohjanpalo another opportunity to put Venezia in front.

Inter would finally break the deadlock in the 65th minute through who else but Lautaro Martínez after the Argentine converted Federico Dimarco’s whipped cross with a back post header from close range; his first home goal for 8 months.

Venezia thought they earned something on their travels when defender Marin Šverko rose highest at the back post to head home but VAR pulled the goal back for handball on the former Croatian youth international.

Up next for Inzaghi and co. is a midweek clash with Arsenal before their title test in Naples, while Venezia will look to recover at home against Parma.