Rome, Feb 23: Lautaro Martinez scored late and Inter Milan beat Genoa 1-0 to take the provisional lead in Serie A on Saturday.
Lautaro met a corner with a header that deflected off a defender’s chest before going in to break a deadlock at the San Siro.
The Argentina striker then climbed up on a security fence to celebrate with Inter’s fans on the other side.
Inter moved one point ahead of Antonio Conte’s Napoli, which can reclaim the lead with a win at Como on Sunday.
Next weekend, Inter visits Napoli.
More crisis for AC Milan
Four days after getting eliminated from the Champions League, AC Milan dropped further into crisis with an error-strewn 2-1 loss at Torino.
The mistakes started with an own goal from Malick Thiaw five minutes in when a clearance from Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan ricocheted off his own defender into the net.
United States international Christian Pulisic then failed to convert a penalty for the first time in his career when Torino goalkeeper Sergej Milinkovic-Savic lunged to his right to push away the American’s low spot kick.
Milinkovic-Savic has saved four of the five penalties he’s faced this season.
After a shot from Milan’s Joao Felix hit the post, the Rossoneri equalized with a shot from Tijjani Reijnders in the 74th. But Torino reclaimed the lead two minutes later with a quick shot from Gvidas Gineitis following a free kick that seemed to surprise Milan.
Milan remained seventh while Torino moved up to 11th.
On Tuesday, Milan was eliminated from the Champions League by Feyenoord on 2-1 aggregate.
Earlier, Parma coach Cristian Chivu had a successful debut with a 2-0 win over regional rival Bologna; and fourth-place Lazio was held to a 0-0 draw at relegation-threatened Venezia. (AP)
