The Japan Times - Inter Milan reclaim Serie A summit

Goals from Piotr Zielinski, Lauaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram lifted Inter one point clear of city rivals AC Milan, who had taken provisional control of the Italian summit with a 1-0 win at Cagliari on Friday.

Defending champions Napoli sit third, two points shy of Inter, after a 2-0 win at Lazio earlier Sunday.

Polish midfielder Zielinski put Inter ahead in the 39th minute with a left-footed shot from outside the box, the assist provided by Martinez.

Martinez headed in from close range off a corner after the break with Thuram sealing the deal for Inter's 13th win of the campaign, despite Bologna's Santiago Castro getting a late goal for the taam beaten in last month's Super Cup in Jeddah by Napoli.

Earlier Napoli kept the wheels on their title defence after overcoming Lazio whose 66-year-old coach Maurizio Sarri was back in the dug out despite undergoing heart-surgery on Monday.

Antonio Conte's men secured a fifth win in six outings with both goals coming in the first half from Leonardo Spinazzola and Amir Rrahmani.

It was a bad-tempered game with three red cards late on as tempers flared in pouring rain.

Tijjani Noslin and Adam Marusic received marching orders for Lazio and Lazio's Pasquale Mazzocchi also walked in the closing stages.

"I have to congratulate my team, playing against Lazio at the Olympic Stadium in this way, with so few technical errors, is something powerful," said Conte, whose team has at this stage of the season, exactly the same record as in January 2025.

Elsewhere Sunday, Italy's Moise Kean scored in stoppage time to earn Fiorentina a 1-0 home win over Cremonese to lift them off the foot of the table, leapfrogging Pisa.

But La Viola, who celebrate their 100th anniversary next season, are still in troubled waters, three points adrift of safety from relegation.

Third from bottom Verona fell to a 3-0 home defeat to mid-table Torino.

M.Ito--JT