MILAN, Italy (Reuters) -Inter Milan toiled to a 2-0 victory over lowly Como thanks to second-half goals from Carlos Augusto and Marcus Thuram on Monday to remain within touching distance of the Serie A summit.
The win lifted third-placed Inter to 37 points, leaving them three points off leaders Atalanta, who beat Empoli 3-2 on Sunday, and one behind second-placed Napoli, after they won 2-1 at Genoa on Saturday. Inter have a game in hand on the top two.
Defending champions Inter dominated the first half but squandered a number of chances, with the unmarked Denzel Dumfries firing over from close range and Federico Dimarco shooting straight at Como's veteran goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
Inter finally scored with Augusto's towering far-post header from a Hakan Calhanoglu corner three minutes after the break.
"Happy for the goal, but more important is the victory. We knew it was a tough game but we got three points," left back Augusto told Sky Italia.
"We knew it was a different league last year, this year there are many strong teams. But I have confidence in my team mates who are the best in the world. We'll see at the end".
The visitors looked more dangerous after going behind, with man of the match Augusto making a crucial interception to deny Edoardo Goldaniga an equaliser and Yann Sommer pulling off a great save to keep out an effort from Nico Paz.
Inter kept pushing to extend their lead but captain Lautaro Martinez saw his 68th-minute effort disallowed for offside, extending his goal drought that has lasted more than a month.
Thuram sealed the win two minutes into stoppage time with a powerful shot past Reina to reach 12 league goals, level with Atalanta's Mateo Retegui in the Serie A scoring chart.
"Even in matches in which we are not 100% brilliant, it's important to win," said Inter centre-back Alessandro Bastoni. "Especially because the others had already played and won, so we had to give a positive response."
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Ken Ferris)
