SALERNO: Lautaro Martinez came off the bench to score all four goals for Inter Milan as they secured a 4-0 victory at Salernitana on Saturday that propelled them back to the top of Serie A.

The hosts had kept Inter at bay for the first hour but fell apart after Martinez came on nine minutes after the break and bagged four goals in 27 minutes, including one from the penalty spot.

The feat made history for Martinez, who became the first player to score four goals as a substitute in Serie A since the three-points-for-a-win era began in 1994.

Inter had dropped three points below AC Milan in the table after their rivals won 2-0 against Lazio earlier on Saturday, but returned to the summit with 18 points from seven matches. Salernitana are 19th with three points.

In Saturday’s other fixture, Christian Pulisic gave Milan the lead on the hour at the San Siro when he slammed in a bobbling pass from Rafael Leao.

Leao was again involved as Milan made sure of the points in the 88th minute, the Portugal winger bursting into the area before cutting the ball back for Noah Okafor to slide home.

Lazio suffered their fourth defeat of the season and dropped to 14th place, with just seven points from as many matches.

Meanwhile, Napoli secured their second victory in four days as Victor Osimhen came off the bench and scored in a 4-0 win at Lecce, bumping the champions up to third.

After a run of three games without a win, Rudi Garcia’s side have rediscovered some form.

Centre-back Leo Ostigard headed Napoli ahead early on with his first league goal for the club, but it wasn’t until the half-time introduction of Osimhen that the visitors took control of the game.

Osimhen nodded in a cross from Khvicha Kvarats­khelia on 51 minutes before late goals from Gianluca Gaetano and Matteo Politano sealed the rout. Napoli remain four points adrift of Inter and Milan.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2023