Simone Inzaghi hailed the improvements made by Romelu Lukaku after his penalty helped them defeat Udinese 3-1.
Lukaku opened the scoring in the 20th minute after Denzel Dumfries was ruled by VAR to be taken down by Wallace.
The Belgian’s first shot was saved by Marco Silvestri, but it was decided that the goalkeeper had deviated from his line, and Lukaku made no mistake on his second attempt.
His strike ended Lukaku’s 189-day drought in Serie A, his previous goal coming back in August against Lecce.
Sandy Lovrich equalized for Udinese, but a great volley from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and a late goal from Lautaro Martinez earned Inter points.
Lukaku has seen himself hampered by a hamstring injury for much of the season, but Inzaghi has faith in the Chelsea loan striker and his health problems now appear to be behind him.
189 – Romelu Lukaku scored in Serie A 189 days after his previous goal (August 13, 2022 against Lecce); The Belgian scored his first home goal in the competition since May 23, 2021, only against Udinese. Found.#InterUdinese pic.twitter.com/DzZygYeVfK
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) February 18, 2023
Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia: “Lukaku is getting better day by day, game after game, practice after practice.
“We have great faith in Rome. He had a few problems last season in London, we brought him back here, and then he had a serious injury that bothered him for four months.
“If he starts the games, that means he’s in good shape and the game will help him build that form.”
Inter are 15 points behind Serie A leaders Napoli, but a win over Udinese sees them qualify for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Porto in the lead.
“We knew that Udinese are a very physical team with good technique that gives you a lot of problems, as we saw in the reverse match,” he added.
“It was a good first half, the only setback was when we conceded a goal when we should have focused more on the lost ball.
“I’m happy with the result, it’s an important win that allows us to move forward.”