Lautaro Martinez struck his first goals of the season for Inter Milan with a brace in Saturday’s 3-2 win at Udinese which moved the champions level with Torino and local rivals AC Milan at the top of Serie A.
Davide Frattesi’s deft finish after just 43 seconds was followed by Argentina forward Martinez’s strikes moments before and after half-time.
The win in Udine saw Inter bounce back from Milan derby defeat last weekend and move up to 11 points after six matches.
Torino, who host Lazio on Sunday, currently hold top spot by virtue of second-placed Milan and Inter having played a game more.
Martinez’s brace will be great news for coach Simone Inzaghi whose team host Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Serie A top scorer last season, Martinez hadn’t scored since netting the winner for his country in the Copa America final in July and his poor form at the start of this campaign had been a worry.
The 27-year-old’s goalscoring drought looked set to continue when he headed wide a golden opportunity to double Inter’s lead from Hakan Calhanoglu’s cross eight minutes after Frattesi’s opener.
But after Christian Kabasele levelled for Udinese in the 35th minute, Martinez bundled home Federico Dimarco’s cross in added time at the end of the first half.
And two minutes after the restart he confidently drilled home the decisive third for the away side, which made Lorenzo Lucca’s 83rd-minute strike for Udinese meaningless.
Juventus will move a point ahead of the leading trio if they win at Genoa in a match which will be played behind closed doors as punishment for widespread fan disorder before and after the hosts’ Italian Cup defeat to local rivals Sampdoria.
Prolonged clashes between Genoa and Sampdoria’s hardcore ultras on Wednesday led to dozens of injuries to fans and police and a crackdown by Italy’s security authorities.
The away supporters’ section has been closed for Samp’s Serie B fixture at Modena on Sunday, with ticket sales for other sections also banned for anyone from the Liguria region of which Genoa is the capital.
On Thursday, Italy’s interior ministry said its public security department was also evaluating Genoa’s and Samp’s following three matches, asking Serie A and Serie B to tell the clubs not to sell tickets for those fixtures until a decision is made.
