I'm Craig Vickers and I'm signing out! Goodnight!
That win may keep Stefano Pioli in a job.
Inter remain top at Christmas, but the real winners are Juventus who, after their shoddy start, are only three points off the top.
Incredible result for the Biancocelest, who come to the home of the league leaders and record their first win since October.
Full-time: Inter 1-2 Lazio
94': Sub for Lazio: Candreva off, Patric on.
92': The Serb, booked already, lashes the ball away to waste time and realises the same fate as Melo.
MILINKOVIC-SAVIC SENT OFF!
89': Hare-brained from Melo, who catches Biglia with a kung-fu kick and sees red.
FELIPE MELO SENT OFF!
88': Sub for Inter: Telles off, Rodrigo on.
86': Handanovic foils the Italian but Candreva follows up and dispatches the rebound.
GOALLLLL!!!!! CANDREVA!!!!!!
85': Felipe Melo charges in to the back of Milinkovic-Savic and the referee points to the spot.
PENALTY TO LAZIO!
82': Sub for Lazio: Felipe Anderson off, Keita Balde on.
79': Handbags between Felipe Melo and Mauricio prompts the referee to intervene.
77': The game is on a proverbial knife-edge. Don't take your eyes off your computer screen.
76': Candreva surges forward and crosses for Djordevic but the centre into too close to Handanovic.
73': Sub for Lazio: Matri off, Djordevic on.
72': Telles delivers a wicked centre but Hoedt deals with the danger at the front post.
70': Candreva crashes his free-kick into the wall and, after Matri was given a glimpse of goal, Inter clear.
69': Melo fells Biglia right on the edge of the area. Free-kick 18 yards out.
68': A point in the context of Lazio's season would be a positive one, but the visitors may be able to exploit Inter's eagerness.
63': The home fans, most certainly, are bouyed by the leveller. Can Inter capitalise on Lazio's fragility?
63': Inter firmly in the ascendancy. A real blow for Lazio, who were holding their own.
60': Perisic ushers in Icardi, who splits the Lazio central defensive pairing, and the Argentine dispatches under Berisha.
GOALLLLL!!!! INTER!!!!! ICARDI!!!!!
57': Sub for Inter: Jovetic off, Ljajic on.
57': Sub for Inter: Biabany off, Brozovic on.
56': Few full-back's in world football have yielded a more error-strewn display than Montoya tonight.
53': Mauricio, who has been outstanding this evening, blocks Telles' effort.
53': Though the referee has moved it a few yards inside. Lazio will be livid if this goes in.
51': Pass-back sighting. Radu cushions the ball back to Berisha who collects the ball, but it's from an acute angle.
48': Biglia upends Jovetic and goes into the referee's notebook.
45': Inter get the second-half underway!
Inter, by their own admission, have been lacklustre. Mauro Icardi yet to impose himself on the game.
Lucas Biglia has been immense in midfield for the away side, who, arriving into this game, have not recorded a league victory since October.
Candreva's fourth-minute strike seperates the side. The league leaders are rattled.
Half-time: Inter 0-1 Lazio.
43': CHANCE! Anderson profits from Melo's hospital pass and, after riding two challenges, the ball trickles to Candreva, but the goalscorer prods over the bar.
41': Telles floats a menacing free-kick towards goal but Berisha, at the second time of asking, smothers comfortably.
39': Jovetic harasses Hoedt into surrendering the ball, but the forward cannot instigate an attack and Lazio recover.
36': Jovetic floats the ensuing set-piece over the crossbar.
35': Konko clatters into Perisic on the edge of the area and the result is a free-kick.
31': Lazio, as it stands, are holding the leaders at arms length. Candreva posing a threat on the break.
28': Inter beginning to stamp their authority on the proceedings.
21': Jovetic hauled to the floor by the aforementioned Argentine. Free-kick from 25 yards out.
18': Biglia, who looked back to his best against Sampdoria last week, is dominating the midfield. Plays a lovely pass to Candreva but the Italian is shephered into a cul-de-sac by Murillo.
16': Candreva is liberated down the right but his cross, aimed at Matri, is collected by Handanovic.
15': Montoya sends Anderson sprawling to the turf. Inter yet to impose themselves on the game.
14': Inter try to hit Lazio on the break but Icardi's attempted pass to Perisic is wayward.
12': Tantalising cross from Alex Telles but Lazio deal with the danger. Hoedt takes a clatter from Felipe Melo, whose already etched Milinkovic-Savic's name into his hitlist this evening.
6': How do Inter respond? Champions, as they old adage goes, thrive amid adversity.
4': From a corner, Candreva is picked out and the Italian lashes his effort beyond Handanovic. Incredible start for the visitors.
GOALLLL!!!!!! LAZIO!!!!! CANDREVA!!!!!!!
3': CHANCE! Jovetic plays a delightful cross-field ball through to Perisic but Berisha is quick off his line to foil the Croatian.
2': Handanovic dawdles in possession and Matri pilfers the ball but there's no Lazio player in sight to tap it in.
1': Lazio get us underway.
The teams are out and the pre-match rituals are complete!
Inter XI (4-2-3-1): Handanovic; Montoya, Miranda, Murillo, Alex Telles; Medel, Felipe Melo; Biabany, Jovetic, Perisic; Icardi.
Lazio XI (4-3-3): Berisha; Konko, Mauricio, Hoedt, Radu; Biglia, Parolo, Milinkovic-Savic; Candreva, Matri, Felipe Anderson.
Team news moments away!
Verona 1-1 Sassuolo -- (Toni; Floccari)
Carpi 2-3 Juventus -- (Borriello, Bonucci [o.g]; Mandzukic [2], Pogba)
Fiorentina 2-0 Chievo -- (Kalinic, Ilicic)
Atalanta 1-3 Napoli -- (Gomez; Hamsik [pen], Higuain [2])
Roma 2-0 Genoa -- (Florenzi, Sadiq)
It was an eventual afternoon in Serie A. Results to follow:
Kick-off is scheduled for 7:45 PM, but stay tuned throughout the day for score updates of all the Serie A action.
The veteran is reportedly unhappy in the capital after being overlooked for captaincy in the summer when Stefano Mauri departed. Lucas Biglia assumed the captains armband and the Italian winger has netted only once since (from the penalty spot against Palermo).
Antonio Candreva has also been the subject of transfer talk linking him with a move away from the Stadio Olimpico. Inter are reportedly interested.
Bags of manure were dumped outside the Lazio training ground last week, criticising the players performance.
The former Bologna boss has the support of club president Claudio Lotito, though the latter has been the subject of ire from the Lazio Ultras in recent months.
Danilo Cataldi and Alessandro Matri cancelled out Kone's spectacular overhead kick to hand Pioli his first home win since October.
Fears were temporarily allayed when progression to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia was secured with a 2-1 win over Udinese.
Stefano Pioli's future has been under severe scrutiny after his side were jeered off by the Biancocelest faithful on Monday night.
Inter find themselves at the summit of the table while Lazio, after Monday's home draw with Sampdoria, are languishing in 12th place.
Inter were held by a vibrant Lazio outfit during the concluding fixture before the winter hiatus last season, with Felipe Anderson netted a first-half brace before being pegged back by goals from Mateo Kovacic and Rodrigo Palacio.
The contrast between these two side's since last year's meeting at the same juncture in the season is stark.
Mancini likened his team to a Fiat 500 in midweek, though quickly downplayed talk of the Scudetto by citing the number of big matches Inter will have to play away from home during the second-half of the season (chiefly Juventus, Fiorentina and Roma).
Adem Ljajic, procured from Roma but eased into life in Milan, has began to repay the faith shown in him by Mancini. The winger was the Nerazzurri's most impressive performer against Napoli and netted the solitary goal against Genoa a fortnight ago.
Inter have used fifteen different line-ups this campaign, with Martin Montoya, for instance, replacing the suspended Daniele D'Ambrosio at right-back last weekend and yielding a commendable display.
James Horncastle, prominent calcio blogger for ESPN, WhoScored and fixture on BT Sport's European Football Show, described Inter as a "chamaelon" given Mancini's capacity to adapt his side to their opponents strengths.
The Nerazzurri, to no surprise, boast the parsimonious defence on the peninsula, having conceded only twice -- against the best attack in the division -- since the 24th October.
Inter have been beaming with confidence, with the central defensive pairing of Miranda and Jeison Murillo burgeoning under the Italian's tutelage.
Stefan Jovetic grabbed his first goal since August while Marcelo Brozovic, in impressive form, curled in a screamer.
Last weekend's rout marked the apogee of Inter's campaign, with Mauro Icardi, ostensibly marginalised by Mancini, netting a brace.
Roberto Mancini's side have recovered impeccably from the 2-1 reverse suffered in Naples, exploiting the Partenopei's recent stumble with successive victories against Genoa and the Zebrette.
The hosts welcome the visit of the Biancocelesti sitting top of the tree at Christmas after their emphatic 4-0 win over Udinese last weekend.
Hello all! I'm Craig Vickers and welcome to VAVEL UK's live minute-by-minute coverage of Inter Milan's clash with Lazio at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Serie A.