Dominant Inter conquer Lazio in Serie A

Rome, Dec 18

Inter Milan continued their fearsome form as they registered a 2-0 away victory over Lazio in Serie A, thanks to strikes from Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram.

Both sides had secured places in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, but their conditions in the domestic league differed as Inter led the Serie A table and were unbeaten since October, while Lazio ranked only 11th before Sunday, reports Xinhua.

A minute's silence was held before kick-off in memory of Sinisa Mihajlovic, who had played for both sides and died of leukaemia one year ago.

After a run of plays, Inter broke the deadlock in the 40th minute when their high press forced Adam Marusic into a wayward pass which was intercepted by Lautaro, who rounded goalkeeper Ivan Provedel and placed it into the net.

Nicolo Rovella had the chance to equalize but his strike was saved by Yann Sommer.

The home side doubled the lead in the 66th minute when Nicolo Barella assisted for Thuram to seal the win.

With the comfortable victory, Inter went four points clear of second-placed Juventus who were held by Genoa 1-1 on Friday.

Also on Sunday, AC Milan built on their midweek Champions League victory over Newcastle by crushing Monza 3-0 at San Siro.

The Rossoneri went ahead after just three minutes in fantastic fashion, as Tijjani Reijnders' mazy run allowed him to penetrate the box before slotting into the net.

The home side were dealt a blow in the 24th minute when Tommaso Pobega limped off with injury, making way for starlet Jan Carlo Simic to make his debut. The 18-year-old jumped at the chance in the 41st minute when Rafael Leao rolled across from the right for him to slide it in.

AC Milan sealed the win in the 76th minute through a textbook counter-attack when Reijnders won the ball in the final third and passed to Olivier Giroud who flicked it to fellow substitute Noah Okafor to finish with a low strike.

In a head-to-head battle for fourth place, Bologna beat Roma 2-0, with Nikola Moro's strike adding to Rasmus Kristensen's own goal.

Elsewhere, Fiorentina edged past Hellas Verona 1-0, while Domenico Berardi's brace of penalties helped Sassuolo come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Udinese.