Inter Milan extended their lead at the top of the Serie A table to six points with a narrow 1–0 win over Lecce at the San Siro. The result leaves Lecce just three points above the relegation zone after suffering their third consecutive defeat.

Ange-Yoan Bonny was among the changes to Cristian Chivu’s starting XI and looked eager to impress. Just six minutes in, he weaved through the Lecce defence, but his low shot was smartly tipped around the post by goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone.

Bonny continued to influence proceedings, setting up Piotr Zielinski for a close-range effort that flew narrowly over the crossbar. He appeared to win a penalty midway through the first half after an apparent foul by Danilo Veiga, but a lengthy VAR review overturned the decision.

Inter kept up the pressure. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, another change from the weekend draw with Napoli, tested Falcone from the edge of the box, but his shot went just wide. In stoppage time before the break, Marcus Thuram’s tame header from a corner was comfortably saved by Falcone, who quickly launched a counter for Lecce. Riccardo Sottil’s half-volley narrowly missed, marking Lecce’s only notable first-half opportunity.

Inter’s dominance continued after the break, though they were repeatedly frustrated. Falcone produced a superb save to tip away a Nicolo Barella header from a Carlos Augusto cross, and later denied Andy Diouf after Barella played him in from the right wing. Lecce even threatened in the final 20 minutes, with a Pio Esposito header from a corner deflected narrowly wide.

Chivu brought on Serie A’s top scorer Lautaro Martínez in search of a breakthrough. While Lecce nearly struck first moments later, as Jamil Siebert forced Sommer into a fine save, it was Inter who finally broke the deadlock. Twelve minutes from time, Martínez’s shot was parried by Falcone straight to Esposito, who calmly turned in the rebound.

Esposito came close to doubling the lead minutes later with a curling effort that went just wide, but his single goal proved enough to secure Inter’s 12th win in 14 league matches.

Meanwhile, Lecce remain the division’s lowest scorers, unable to find a late equaliser despite creating a few chances.