Inter were made to sweat to beat relegation-troubled Palermo at the Renzo Barbera Stadium, last weekend.

The last time the visitors had left Palermo with a win was on September 19, 2010 when Samuel Eto’o struck a second-half double to help Inter beat the Sicilians 2-1.

On Sunday, a more entertaining second half saw midfielder Joao Mario hitting the winner after having replaced Ever Banega.

Up to that point, Inter barely threatened Palermo’s suspect defence as the home side seemed heading to only their second undefeated home game this season (following a 1-1 draw with Pescara on December 22).

Before the trip to Palermo, Inter had chalked up five straight league wins – vs Genoa 2-0, Sassuolo 1-0, Lazio 3-0, Udinese 2-1 and Chievo 3-1. In the meantime, they also overcame Bologna 3-2 after extra-time to reach the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.

Inter climbed to fifth in Serie A with 39 points. Lazio are now only one point ahead and Milan two behind but with a game in hand (vs Bologna on February 8).

Third-placed Napoli have 44 points as league runners-up Roma have three more, one point adrift of leaders Juventus, who also have a game in hand (vs Crotone on February 8).

With Juventus marching to-wards their sixth straight league title, the race is on for the other two slots in next season’s UEFA Champions League.

Atalanta (38 points) and Fiorentina (33 points – a game in hand vs Crotone on February 1) are also challenging for a place in Europe but it looks that the other major contenders are better equipped to last the pace.

The Euro club competitions resume next month.

Inter, knocked out from the group stages of the Europa League, have only the Serie A and Coppa Italia to focus on. The same cannot be said of Juventus and Napoli though. They will cross swords with Porto and Real Madrid, respectively, in the Champions League as Roma take on Villarreal and Fiorentina play Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Europa League.

This may put Lazio, Inter and Milan in a better position to make a creditable quest for a top-three finish. Inter, in particular, should take heart from their positive run since coach Stefano Pioli took over as from match-day 13.

Former Lazio mentor Pioli transformed the San Siro side’s fortunes after replacing Dutchman Frank de Boer. Under the former Ajax trainer, Inter only managed four wins and two draws and were languishing at the bottom half of the standings.

With Pioli in charge, Inter won all their matches except for a 2-2 draw with Milan and the 3-0 setback to Napoli.

Before the second round got underway earlier this month, Pioli told reporters that Inter needed to collect around 80 points by the end of the season to secure a berth in the Champions League.

On Saturday, Inter should extend their winning streak when playing lowly Pescara but their minds will surely be on the following weekend where a trip to the Juventus Stadium awaits Pioli’s men.

This fixture could not have come at a more opportune time to assess Inter’s progress. Indeed, it is one thing beating modest opponents but then failing to leave Turin unscathed.

Gagliardini’s move

New midfielder Roberto Gagliardini is proving to be a valuable addition to Inter following his €28m move from Atalanta earlier this month.

The 22-year-old Italy international has already settled in his new environs and should help Inter’s cause by no small measure as the new owners want to put the club back among the major contenders at home and abroad.

It now seems that Inter have put behind them an opaque start to the season. They have all cards in place to pursue with their surge of late and potentially they can also go all the way and lift their first Italian Cup since 2011.

This time two years ago, Pioli had masterminded Lazio’s third-place finish thanks to a strong run-in to the campaign. He is now being urged by the Inter fans to achieve the same objective albeit the challenge from other teams seems to be more tense and hard than it was 24 months ago.

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