Inter on Sunday kept up the pressure on Serie A leaders SSC Napoli with a convincing 4-0 win at lowly US Lecce which moved the defending champions three points from the summit.
Goals from Davide Frattesi, Lautaro Martinez, Denzel Dumfries and Mehdi Taremi gave Inter their seventh win in eight league matches in a dominant performance in southern Italy.
Simone Inzaghi’s team are also four points ahead of third-placed Atalanta BC with a game in hand on both their title rivals, their match at ACF Fiorentina which was stopped last month due to Edoardo Bove’s on-pitch collapse.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We approached the match brilliantly and it wasn’t easy because we got back at dawn after the match in Prague tomorrow, we had two days and then another trip down here, but in two days we managed to plan an aggressive performance, and they did exactly what I asked,” Inzaghi said.
Inter are motoring at a key part of the season, with Wednesday’s visit of AS Monaco offering a chance to confirm direct qualification for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League and the derby with AC Milan coming up next weekend.
Sunday’s win was their eighth in a row away from home in Serie A, and they have not even conceded a goal on the road in Italy’s top flight since their first win in that run, at Udinese in late September last year.
Inter could have won by more as Carlos Augusto and Frattesi had goals ruled out for tight offsides within a minute of each other midway through the first half.
By that point the away side were leading through Frattesi’s sixth-minute goal, which came after some fantastic footwork and a smart pass from Marcus Thuram.
Captain Martinez rifled in his sixth goal in eight matches in all competitions six minutes before halftime and the Argentina striker was key to Dumfries sealing the points with a brilliant back-heeled assist just as Lecce were getting a foothold in the game.
Taremi capped a near-perfect evening for Inter with his first goal in Serie A, slotting home from the penalty spot after Frattesi was tripped by Lecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone.
AC Milan turned jeers to cheers as two goals in stoppage-time led to a stunning 3-2 win of a chaotic lunchtime clash with Parma.
Trailing to what looked like being Enrico Delprato’s winner for Parma heading into stoppage-time, Milan triumphed thanks to late strikes from Tijjani Reijnders and Samuel Chukwueze, sending previously frustrated fans delirious with joy.
Nigeria forward Chukwueze’s bundled finish gave Sergio Conceicao’s seventh-placed team a huge boost ahead of a massive week, with tomorrow’s match at Dinamo Zagreb a chance to secure a top eight spot in the Champions League before the Milan derby.
However, all is not well at Milan and fiery Conceicao almost came to blows with deposed captain Davide Calabria on the pitch, the pair being held back by coaching staff while the rest of the team celebrated with fans.
Calabria, who was replaced as captain by Mike Maignan earlier this month, brushed over the incident as being a “dressing room matter,” while Conceicao cryptically said: “If your kids are behaving badly, you have to act.”
Conceicao also substituted star players Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez after a dismal display from his team in the first half which brought a chorus of boos from fans, whose long-standing discontent with American owners RedBird had threatened to bubble over in the 80th minute when Delprato forced home on the rebound.
The defeat was especially harsh for Parma who were left with nothing from an excellent performance and stay a point above the relegation zone, level with Lecce.
ACF Fiorentina got their bid for the Champions League back up and running by winning a tetchy contest at SS Lazio 2-1 and snapping a six-match winless streak.
Raffaele Palladino’s side are sixth, three points behind fourth-placed Lazio thanks to early strikes from Yacine Adli and Lucas Beltran.
The Tuscans escaped with three points from a match which finished with both Palladino and Lazio coach Marco Baroni sent off, and Pedro hitting the post in the final seconds after Adam Marusic pulled a goal back in stoppage-time.
In Sunday’s other match, AS Roma won 2-0 away at Udinese.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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