The Japan Times - Inter thump Como to top Serie A ahead of Liverpool visit

Strike partnership Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram scored in each half before Hakan Calhanoglu and Carlos Augusto netted late as Inter eased to a victory which pushed them two points ahead of AC Milan and Napoli who are both yet to play.

Champions Napoli host fierce rivals Juventus on Sunday night while Milan will be favourites to leapfrog back over their local rivals at Torino on Monday.

Saturday's win was the perfect warm-up for Tuesday's clash with Liverpool, which could be key to whether Cristian Chivu's team secure direct qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League.

A good sign for Chivu was the strong display by Luis Henrique at right wing-back, which has been a trouble position for Inter since Denzel Dumfries' picked up an ankle injury last month.

It was Henrique who was key to Martinez's opener in the 11th minute, the Brazilian surging into the area from his own half, cutting back inside and perfectly feeding his captain who netted a league-leading seventh goal of the Serie A campaign.

And in the 59th minute Thuram added to his brace in Inter's midweek cup thumping of Venezia with his first league goal since returning from a hamstring injury suffered in September.

France forward Thuram poked home from close range after Federico Dimarco's corner caused chaos for Como, who had started the second half the better team and should have levelled from one of two great chances for Tasos Douvikas and Alex Valle.

Cesc Fabregas' Como drop down a place to sixth, six points behind Inter after falling to their first defeat since August, which was made emphatic by Calhanoglu firing home his seventh goal of the season in the 81st minute and Carlos Augusto's fine volley shortly afterwards.

- Fiorentina's crisis continues -

Fiorentina plunged deeper into crisis with a 3-1 defeat at promoted Sassuolo which left them bottom of the division without a single win this season.

Once the home of players like Gabriel Batistuta and Rui Costa and sixth-placed finishers last season, Fiorentina have collected just six points from 14 matches.

And even with the backing of some 4,000 travelling fans the "Viola" were dreadful in Reggio Emilia, collapsing to an eighth league loss of the league campaign after going ahead through Rolando Mandragora's ninth-minute penalty.

Cristian Volpato levelled for Sassuolo with a deflected strike five minutes later. Tarik Muharemovic gave the hosts a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time when he was given the freedom of the Fiorentina penalty area to head home his first Serie A goal.

From that point Fiorentina showed nothing to suggest a comeback and Ismael Kone sealed the points for Sassuolo in the 65th minute, shortly after Volpato had a screamer ruled out for a soft looking foul on Fabiano Parisi.

That decision incensed eight-placed Sassuolo's coach Fabio Grosso who was subsequently sent off for dissent.

Grosso's counterpart Paolo Vanoli, who took charge of Fiorentina a month ago, screamed on the sidelines to no avail as his team stayed six points from safety with just over a third of the season done.

Raffaele Palladino looks to continue his good start as Atalanta coach, a job he took last month after quitting Fiorentina in the summer, at Verona in the day's late fixture.

K.Abe--JT