Rome, Jan 7 (IANS): Inter Milan started their new year with a slender victory, as Lautaro Martinez's opener and Davide Frattesi's winner boosted them to a 2-1 win over Hellas Verona.

Inter entered the game with two points ahead of second-placed Juventus and had Lautaro, Benjamin Pavard and Denzel Dumfries back into the starting line-up, while new arrival Tajon Buchanan showed up on the stand, Xinhua reports.

Lautaro proved his value as he gave the home side an early lead in the 13th minute when Marcus Thuram laid it off for Henrik Mkhitaryan who charged forward and assisted for Lautaro to poke it into the net.

The Argentinean thought he had bagged a brace straight after the break, but it was chalked off due to Francesco Acerbi's offside position in the build-up.

Verona got back on level terms in the 74th minute when Thomas Henry came off the bench to find the net from close range.

The game culminated in the stoppage time, as Inter restored the lead in the 93rd minute thanks to Frattesi's follow-up, before Darko Lazovic saw straight red for insulting the referee.

The away side should have left San Siro with one point, but Henry went from hero to zero by hitting the spot-kick onto the upright.

The hard-fought victory allowed Inter to claim the winter champion and temporarily go five points clear of Juventus who visit Salernitana on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Monza beat Frosinone in a 3-2 thriller, Andrea Pinamonti's early strike gave Sassuolo a 1-0 victory over Fiorentina, Lecce shared the spoils with Cagliari at 1-1.