MILAN: Inter Milan beat Empoli 3-1 at home on Sunday to keep pace with Napoli at the top of the Serie A table.

Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring with a curling shot after 55 minutes, Denzel Dumfries added a second with a powerful header from a corner in the 79th, and Marcus Thuram sealed the win 10 minutes later after Empoli had reduced the deficit.

Inter are second in the table with 47 points, three behind leaders Napoli but with a game in hand. Empoli are 14th with 20 points.

The hosts controlled the first half, carving out several opportunities to break the deadlock, but their lack of precision in their finishing kept the game goalless at the break.

Martinez sparked early excitement for Inter with a bicycle kick from a free kick, but Empoli keeper Devis Vasquez reacted brilliantly to save his effort.

Martinez went close to putting Inter ahead five minutes before halftime, when a bouncing ball slipped past the Empoli defence, but his half-volley from close range clipped the post.

Inter’s Argentine captain got his goal after 55 minutes, receiving a pass outside the box before unleashing a precise curling shot that grazed the fingertips of Vasquez, at full stretch, as it went into the net.

Dumfries doubled the lead with a powerful header from a corner that bounced into the ground and up into the top corner.

Inter, who had assistant Massimiliano Farris in the dugout with coach Simone Inzaghi banned from the touchline after accumulating yellow cards, took their foot off the pedal after Dumfries’ goal.

Empoli briefly threatened a comeback when Sebastiano Esposito, on loan from Inter, pulled one back in the 84th minute, controlling a cross and finishing from close range.

The visitors, however, couldn’t capitalise on that momentum, and Thuram scored Inter’s third from a counter-attack to seal the points.

Earlier, Lazio stayed in Serie A’s Champions League places after thumping struggling Hellas Verona 3-0.

Marco Baroni’s Lazio went ahead with just a minute on the clock through Samuel Gigot, and further strikes from Boulaye Dia and captain Mattia Zaccagni put them fourth, two points above Juventus who beat AC Milan on Saturday.

Sunday’s success ended a three-match winless streak for Lazio, which included derby defeat to rivals AS Roma, and left Verona in the relegation zone.

Verona slumped to their 14th defeat in 21 league fixtures in front of new chairman Italo Zanzi following the club’s acquisition by American private equity firm Presidio Investors on Wednesday.

The new owners have a job on their hands at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi as Verona are deep in the fight against the drop, sitting in 18th place and separated by goal difference from Como who are just outside the bottom three.

Verona are in the drop zone due to Cagliari’s 4-1 thumping of fellow strugglers Lecce which moved the Sardinian outfit up to 13th.

Just two points separate Cagliari and Verona, with Lecce, Parma — who drew 1-1 with second-from-bottom Venezia — and Empoli all on 20 points.

Verona, who finished the match with 10 men following Ondrej Duda’s late sending-off, make the short trip to regional rivals Venezia next week.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2025