MILAN, May 2: Inter Milan won its first Serie A title in more than a decade after second-place Atalanta drew 1-1 at Sassuolo on Sunday.
Atalanta needed to win to avoid Inter mathematically clinching the title with four matches remaining and its chances of doing so diminished dramatically when goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini was sent off in the 23rd minute leaving his side with 10 men for most of the match.
Robin Gosens scored for 10-man Atalanta nine minutes later but Domenico Berardi leveled from the penalty spot early in the second half. Atalanta had a penalty saved late on after Sassuolo also had a man sent off.
It is Inter’s first trophy since 2011 and the first Serie A title since 2010, when it claimed the treble of the league, Champions League and Italian Cup.
Inter ended Juventus’ grip on the league crown. Inter coach Antonio Conte led Juventus to the first three of its nine successive Serie A titles but ended that run in his second season in charge of the Nerazzurri.
Earlier, the Nerazzurri won at last-placed Crotone 2-0 on Saturday to give themselves a chance to clinch the Serie A before the Atalanta and Sassuolo match.
Inter had moved 13 points clear of city rival AC Milan with four games to play.
Inter has, thus, ended a nine-year stranglehold on the Serie A title by Juventus with Conte himself having started the Bianconeri’s run.
“This is satisfying and the players deserve congratulations,” Conte said before joining his already-celebrating team to sing and dance in the changing room.
It was quite a different scene in the home team’s changing room, as Crotone was relegated.
“I made the most difficult choice by coming to Inter,” Conte added, referring to the club’s long dry spell.
Conte also excels at challenging his players. Players like talented Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen, who was largely an enigma during his first year with Inter after transferring from Tottenham midway through last season.
Eriksen, who has developed into one of the keys of Inter’s unbeaten run during the second half of this campaign, scored the opening goal midway through the second half on a play that began with a backheel flick from fellow substitute Alexis Sanchez.
Four minutes after the subs went on, Romelu Lukaku took Sanchez’s creative pass and left it for Eriksen to score with a drive that deflected in off a defender. Achraf Hakimi sealed it for Inter by finishing off a counterattack in stoppage time.
Milan bounced back from consecutive losses with a 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Benevento, which is coached by former Rossoneri standout Filippo Inzaghi. Hakan Calhanoglu and Theo Hernandez scored for Milan.Benevento remained 18th.
Earlier, a late equalizer from Riccardo Saponara earned Serie A debutant Spezia a much-needed point at Hellas Verona in a 1-1 draw. Spezia, based in Liguria, moved three points clear of the drop zone. (AP)
