Lautaro Martinez scored all four goals as Inter Milan thrashed Salernitana 4-0 on Saturday to stay top in Serie A, while AC Milan kept pace with their city rivals after overcoming Lazio.

Inter rebounded from their first loss of the season midweek against Sassuolo thanks to a sensational second-half display from Martinez.

The Argentina striker dinked Marcus Thuram's superb ball over home goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa to break the deadlock just past the hour.

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Salernitana's Mateusz Legowski had a goal disallowed for offside before Martinez drilled in his second from a cross from Nicolo Barella.

Martinez completed his hat-trick on 85 minutes after from the penalty spot Thuram was bundled to the ground. He added another with a first-time finish from Carlos Augusto's pass.

"I'm happy because I helped the team, it's all that counts. It was important to win after all the criticism aimed at us after our defeat on Wednesday," said Martinez, who tops the Serie A scoring charts with nine goals.

"I'm not thinking about the title for top scorer, I just want to help the team."

Inter are level on 18 points with Milan, who had briefly gone top earlier in the day after they overcame a struggling Lazio 2-0.

Christian Pulisic gave Milan the lead on the hour at the San Siro when he slammed in a bobbling pass from Rafael Leao for his third goal since joining from Chelsea.

Leao was again involved as Milan made sure of the points in the 88th minute, the Portugal winger bursting into the area before cutting the ball back for Noah Okafor to slide home.

"I thought we put a lot of pressure on, it was just a matter of time, we finally opened it up and from there it was a really strong performance," Pulisic told DAZN.

"I haven't been here a long time, there are a lot of new players, but we are really starting to gel well. I am really enjoying my time with the team."

France goalkeeper Mike Maignan returned for Milan after missing the past two games with a thigh injury he sustained in a goalless draw against Newcastle in the Champions League.

Lazio suffered their fourth defeat of the season and dropped to 14th place, with just seven points from as many matches.

<h2>Osimhen on target</h2>

Napoli secured their second victory in four days as Victor Osimhen came off the bench and scored in a 4-0 win at Lecce, bumping the Italian champions up to third.

After a run of three games without a win, Rudi Garcia's side have rediscovered some form heading into next week's Champions League clash at home to Real Madrid.

Centre-back Leo Ostigard headed Napoli ahead early on with his first league goal for the club, but it wasn't until the half-time introduction of Osimhen that the visitors took control of the game.

The Nigerian nodded in a cross from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on 51 minutes before late goals from Gianluca Gaetano and Matteo Politano sealed the rout.

Politano struck from the spot as Osimhen left penalty duties to a team-mate for the second game running after the club posted a video online mocking him for a missed attempt.

After the player's agent threatened legal action this week, Napoli said they never meant to offend Osimhen.

Napoli remain four points adrift of Inter and Milan.

"It was a well-managed match from start to finish, we wanted to hit hard and score in the first 15 minutes," said Garcia.

"I'm happy for Ostigard who is really a player who's constantly thinking about the team."

"We drew lessons from what happened in Genoa (a 2-2 draw on September 16), it's something that really pleases me," added Garcia.

"All our players are getting back to their best level, that's why the team is now finding this consistency."

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Lautaro Martinez scored all four goals as Inter Milan thrashed Salernitana 4-0 on Saturday to stay top in Serie A, while AC Milan kept pace with their city rivals after overcoming Lazio.

Lautaro Martinez scored all four goals as Inter Milan thrashed Salernitana 4-0 on Saturday to stay top in Serie A, while AC Milan kept pace with their city rivals after overcoming Lazio. Inter rebounded from their first loss of the season midweek against Sassuolo thanks to a sensational second-half display from Martinez. The Argentina striker dinked Marcus Thuram's superb ball over home goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa to break the deadlock just past the hour. Also Read: Premier League: Man City shocked by Wolves, Man Utd beaten by Crystal Palace Salernitana's Mateusz Legowski had a goal disallowed for offside before Martinez drilled in his second from a cross from Nicolo Barella. Martinez completed his hat-trick on 85 minutes after from the penalty spot Thuram was bundled to the ground. He added another with a first-time finish from Carlos Augusto's pass. "I'm happy because I helped the team, it's all that counts. It was important to win after all the criticism aimed at us after our defeat on Wednesday," said Martinez, who tops the Serie A scoring charts with nine goals. "I'm not thinking about the title for top scorer, I just want to help the team." Inter are level on 18 points with Milan, who had briefly gone top earlier in the day after they overcame a struggling Lazio 2-0. Christian Pulisic gave Milan the lead on the hour at the San Siro when he slammed in a bobbling pass from Rafael Leao for his third goal since joining from Chelsea. Leao was again involved as Milan made sure of the points in the 88th minute, the Portugal winger bursting into the area before cutting the ball back for Noah Okafor to slide home. "I thought we put a lot of pressure on, it was just a matter of time, we finally opened it up and from there it was a really strong performance," Pulisic told DAZN. "I haven't been here a long time, there are a lot of new players, but we are really starting to gel well. I am really enjoying my time with the team." France goalkeeper Mike Maignan returned for Milan after missing the past two games with a thigh injury he sustained in a goalless draw against Newcastle in the Champions League. Lazio suffered their fourth defeat of the season and dropped to 14th place, with just seven points from as many matches. Osimhen on target Napoli secured their second victory in four days as Victor Osimhen came off the bench and scored in a 4-0 win at Lecce, bumping the Italian champions up to third. After a run of three games without a win, Rudi Garcia's side have rediscovered some form heading into next week's Champions League clash at home to Real Madrid. Centre-back Leo Ostigard headed Napoli ahead early on with his first league goal for the club, but it wasn't until the half-time introduction of Osimhen that the visitors took control of the game. The Nigerian nodded in a cross from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on 51 minutes before late goals from Gianluca Gaetano and Matteo Politano sealed the rout. Politano struck from the spot as Osimhen left penalty duties to a team-mate for the second game running after the club posted a video online mocking him for a missed attempt. After the player's agent threatened legal action this week, Napoli said they never meant to offend Osimhen. Napoli remain four points adrift of Inter and Milan. "It was a well-managed match from start to finish, we wanted to hit hard and score in the first 15 minutes," said Garcia. "I'm happy for Ostigard who is really a player who's constantly thinking about the team." "We drew lessons from what happened in Genoa (a 2-2 draw on September 16), it's something that really pleases me," added Garcia. "All our players are getting back to their best level, that's why the team is now finding this consistency." WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Serie A: Inter thrash Salernitana to stay on top; AC Milan keep pace with win over Lazio

Juventus&nbsp;took advantage of Atalanta's goalless draw at Genoa with a 2-0 win over Cagliari which inched them closer to Serie A's Champions League places, as Salernitana's trip to Udinese became the season's first coronavirus-related casualty.

Moise Kean's header five minutes before the break and Federico Bernardeschi's precision finish after a break-away late on at the Allianz Stadium moved Juve to within four points of fourth place in Italy's top flight, currently occupied by Atalanta.

A fourth win in five matches means Massimiliano Allegri's side end 2021 on a high but it was another in a long line of underwhelming performances from the Old Lady of Italian football, who sit fifth nine points behind league leaders Inter Milan ahead of their home clash with Torino on Wednesday.

After the winter break they face a true test of their ambitions for the season, with matches against Napoli, Roma, AC Milan and Atalanta all coming by mid-February.

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"If we get to the end of February with the same gap between us and the first four places as now I'll be happy," Allegri said to DAZN.

“You can't win all your matches with your direct rivals so from then on they'll have to play each other while we have a simpler calendar.

Juve were missing Paulo Dybala and Federico Chiesa in attack and rarely clicked going forward, while a troubled away side can wonder what might have been with better finishing.

Twice in the second half Cagliari, who are in the midst of a full-blown crisis after failing to muster a league win since mid-October, failed to put away gilt-edged chances following sloppy defending from the hosts.

Under-fire Cagliari coach Walter Mazzarri could hardly believe his eyes when, picked out completely alone on the hour mark by Raoul Bellanova's perfect low cross, Dalbert somehow shanked wide with the goal at his mercy.

And eight minutes later Joao Pedro, just about the only bright sport for the Sardinian side this season with his nine Serie A goals, headed straight at Wojciech Szczesny from point-blank range.

Bernardeschi's first goal in Serie A since July 2020 late on condemned second-from-bottom Cagliari to their third defeat on the bounce, although one that was less humiliating than the previous two 4-0 thumpings.

<h2>Covid strikes Salernitana</h2>

They are a point behind Genoa, who didn't have a single shot on target as they held a curiously off-form Atalanta team now winless in three and sweating the fitness of striker Duvan Zapata after the Colombian limped off in the first half at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

The biggest news of the day came earlier at Udinese, as the match with Salernitana officially went ahead despite health authorities in Salerno requesting the away side not leave for northeastern Italy.

The match was eventually abandoned 45 minutes after the official kick-off time of 1830 local time (1730 GMT), with the Udinese players remaining in the Dacia Arena's dressing rooms knowing their opposition was not going to show up.

Before the game Udinese's Pierpaolo Marino expressed annoyance at Salernitana not showing up due to two cases in the squad when just over a year ago his club had sent a team to Lazio despite having seven players and former coach Luca Gotti out with Covid infections.

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However Salernitana sporting director Angelo Fabiani was unmoved, saying the club had organised a charter flight for those who had tested negative but were contacted by health authorities, who banned the whole team from travelling as they had to isolate as contact cases.

"If we're banned by the authorities from travelling, what are we supposed to do?" Fabiani asked.

Salernitana now await the ruling from the football authorities regarding the result and whether the match will be rescheduled.

However the head of the Italian FA said on Tuesday that they will be kicked out of Serie A if a buyer for the club is not found by December 31, as they are owned by Lazio chief Claudio Lotito and ownership of multiple clubs in the same division is not allowed.

Juventus took advantage of Atalanta's goalless draw at Genoa with a 2-0 win over Cagliari which inched them closer to Serie A's Champions League places, as Salernitana's trip to Udinese became the season's first coronavirus-related casualty.

Juventus took advantage of Atalanta's goalless draw at Genoa with a 2-0 win over Cagliari which inched them closer to Serie A's Champions League places, as Salernitana's trip to Udinese became the season's first coronavirus-related casualty. Moise Kean's header five minutes before the break and Federico Bernardeschi's precision finish after a break-away late on at the Allianz Stadium moved Juve to within four points of fourth place in Italy's top flight, currently occupied by Atalanta. A fourth win in five matches means Massimiliano Allegri's side end 2021 on a high but it was another in a long line of underwhelming performances from the Old Lady of Italian football, who sit fifth nine points behind league leaders Inter Milan ahead of their home clash with Torino on Wednesday. After the winter break they face a true test of their ambitions for the season, with matches against Napoli, Roma, AC Milan and Atalanta all coming by mid-February. ALSO READ: League Cup: Eddie Nketiah hat-trick helps Arsenal enter semi-finals "If we get to the end of February with the same gap between us and the first four places as now I'll be happy," Allegri said to DAZN. “You can't win all your matches with your direct rivals so from then on they'll have to play each other while we have a simpler calendar. Juve were missing Paulo Dybala and Federico Chiesa in attack and rarely clicked going forward, while a troubled away side can wonder what might have been with better finishing. Twice in the second half Cagliari, who are in the midst of a full-blown crisis after failing to muster a league win since mid-October, failed to put away gilt-edged chances following sloppy defending from the hosts. Under-fire Cagliari coach Walter Mazzarri could hardly believe his eyes when, picked out completely alone on the hour mark by Raoul Bellanova's perfect low cross, Dalbert somehow shanked wide with the goal at his mercy. And eight minutes later Joao Pedro, just about the only bright sport for the Sardinian side this season with his nine Serie A goals, headed straight at Wojciech Szczesny from point-blank range. Bernardeschi's first goal in Serie A since July 2020 late on condemned second-from-bottom Cagliari to their third defeat on the bounce, although one that was less humiliating than the previous two 4-0 thumpings. Covid strikes Salernitana They are a point behind Genoa, who didn't have a single shot on target as they held a curiously off-form Atalanta team now winless in three and sweating the fitness of striker Duvan Zapata after the Colombian limped off in the first half at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. The biggest news of the day came earlier at Udinese, as the match with Salernitana officially went ahead despite health authorities in Salerno requesting the away side not leave for northeastern Italy. The match was eventually abandoned 45 minutes after the official kick-off time of 1830 local time (1730 GMT), with the Udinese players remaining in the Dacia Arena's dressing rooms knowing their opposition was not going to show up. Before the game Udinese's Pierpaolo Marino expressed annoyance at Salernitana not showing up due to two cases in the squad when just over a year ago his club had sent a team to Lazio despite having seven players and former coach Luca Gotti out with Covid infections. ALSO READ: Player welfare not taken seriously: Liverpool's Jordan Henderson reacts as PL continues amid Covid scare However Salernitana sporting director Angelo Fabiani was unmoved, saying the club had organised a charter flight for those who had tested negative but were contacted by health authorities, who banned the whole team from travelling as they had to isolate as contact cases. "If we're banned by the authorities from travelling, what are we supposed to do?" Fabiani asked. Salernitana now await the ruling from the football authorities regarding the result and whether the match will be rescheduled. However the head of the Italian FA said on Tuesday that they will be kicked out of Serie A if a buyer for the club is not found by December 31, as they are owned by Lazio chief Claudio Lotito and ownership of multiple clubs in the same division is not allowed.

Serie A: Juventus thrash Cagliari 2-0, Salernitana-Udinese game suspended due to COVID-19 cases

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