Inter wins at Udinese to fortify Serie A lead before facing Arsenal in Champions League
Inter Milan will be full of confidence when the Champions League resumes after consolidating its lead in Serie A with a 1-0 win at Udinese. Lautaro Martínez scored in the first half and Inter moved six points clear of second-placed AC Milan and defending champion Napoli, which beat Sassuolo 1-0 on Saturday. Milan hosts lowly Lecce on Sunday.
Inter welcomes Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday. Arsenal tops the table having won all six of its matches. Inter, which has lost its past two, sits sixth. With that crucial match coming up, Cristian Chivu again rotated his squad on Saturday, with Pio Esposito partnering Lautaro.
Those two combined in the 20th minute for the opening goal. Piotr Sebastian Zielinski played a through ball into the penalty area for Esposito to backheel it into the path of Lautaro, who muscled his way across before drilling into the bottom right corner. Federico Dimarco thought he doubled Inter’s lead in the 61st following another Esposito assist but it was ruled out for offside.
High cost: Napoli ended a run of three consecutive draws but it could have come at a cost. Stanislav Lobotka scored his first goal in more than three years, volleying in a rebound in the seventh minute after Sassuolo goalkeeper Arijanet Muric could only parry a shot by Eljif Elmas. Elmas and Napoli teammate Amir Rrahmani came off injured in the second half.
Rrahmani’s will be more concerning as it appeared to be a muscle issue in his left thigh, while Elmas felt dizzy after taking a knock to the head. Matteo Politano also appeared to have a muscular problem in stoppage time but stayed on — albeit with little movement — because Napoli used up all of its substitutions. Napoli sits dangerously close to the elimination zone in the Champions League table and visits Copenhagen on Tuesday.
Shock loss: Fourth-placed Juventus surprisingly lost at relegation-threatened Cagliari 1-0. Cagliari scored in the 65th minute with a well worked set play. Instead of lifting a free kick into the area, Gianluca Gaetano sent it in low for Luca Mazzitelli to volley into the bottom corner. Mazzitelli almost gave away an early penalty for an apparent foul on Juventus midfielder Fabio Miretti but it was revoked on video review. Cagliari moved eight points above the drop zone.
