Following Milan’s surprise loss to Spain, Inter captured the Italian summit tonight (Sunday) after beating Lazio 1: 3, a week before the city’s big derby. Earlier, Roma qualified for third place in the table with a light 0: 3 over Udinese at the Olimpico, Atlanta with a dramatic 0: 1 over Cagliari and Fiorentina continued to deteriorate with 2: 1 from Sampdoria.
Inter – Lazio 1: 3
Ladies and gentlemen, a makeover. For the first time since the first round, the Narazuri have climbed to the top and will also remain there at the end of the 22nd round of the season. Just a week before the big Milan derby, Antonio Conte’s side finally overtook AC Milan, who reached the top in the fourth round and have not looked back since.
After being eliminated against Juventus in the Cup semi-final, Inter achieved a third consecutive victory in the league and inflicted a first loss on Lazio after six consecutive victories of their own. Despite the result, the Eagles ranked seventh are just 2 points away from fourth Juventus.
Inter’s man was Romulo Lukaku, who scored a double in the first half, and on the way reached 300 goals in his career for his various teams and the Belgium national team. In the 22nd minute Lautro Martinez failed in the box, Lukaku took the responsibility and subdued Pepe Reina in the goal.
Just before the break (45), the Belgian striker scored his second from an extension and Inter seemed to be on the road to an easy victory. However, Lazio did not give up and in the 61st minute Sergei Milinkovic Savic found Gonzalo Escalante who managed to narrow the result, but only three minutes passed and Lukaku came into action again. The Belgian burst on half a court, penetrated the field and arranged for Lautro one of his easiest goals of his career – a big 1: 3 at the end.
🎉 | FINITAAA !!!
Grandissima vittoria, ragazzi … e siamo primi in classifica! 🔝🔝🔝#InterLazio 3⃣-1⃣
⚽️ #Lukaku rig. (22 ‘)
⚽️ #Lukaku (45 ‘)
Al️ Escalante (61 ‘)
⚽️ #Lautaro (64 ‘)#FORZAINTER ⚫️🔵 pic.twitter.com/G3df7VnJd0– Inter (@Inter) February 14, 2021
Rome – Udinese 0: 3
Paulo Fonseca’s team did the job and recovered very quickly from the loss to Juventus last Saturday. The opening of the Wolves was promising. Already in the 5th minute, Gianluca Mancini raised a ball to the field and Jordan Verto slammed close inside and subdued Juan Musso, the visitors’ Argentine goalkeeper.
In the 25th minute, Pendel was blown to win for Roma. Verto took the lead and did not disappoint as he set up a 0-2 draw and raised his tally to nine conquests this season – as to the king of goals this season, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who incidentally was fouled wide by Musso during a run that led to Pendel.
4 minutes later Lorenzo Pellegrini scored Roma’s third, but the goal was disallowed due to a foul by Mkhitaryan. In the end, deep into extra time, Pedro was honored in the third goal with a soft kick to the net from 14 yards out. Roma wins 0: 3 and inflicts on Udinese the first loss after 5 games. The Wolves are only six points from AC Milan.
Cagliari – Atlanta 1: 0
Jan Piero Gasparini’s trainees struggled a lot, but did the job. Atlanta scored a narrow 0-1 over Cagliari from a dramatic goal by Luis Muriel in the 90th minute.
Although writing the pace, the team from Bergamo failed to translate control into goals. The misses of Duban Zapata and Robin Gossens put Gasparini under pressure, but in the closing minutes the veteran coach was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Muriel’s great personal action ended in an excellent goal and a significant 0: 1 for the blue-blacks.
Atlanta fans’ breath was taken for a few minutes deep into overtime. A foul on a Cagliari player caused the referee to point to the white spot in the 95th minute. After a minute of VAR testing, the judging panel decided to overturn the decision and send the team from Bergamo to the festivities. Atlanta is in seventh place with 40 points and is only three points from third-placed Rome.
Sampdoria – Fiorentina 1: 2
Fiorentina continues to fall. Claudio Friendly’s team with a third game in a row without a win and is already in 16th place in the table, seven points from the red line.
Ballad Keita gave the hosts the lead in the 31st minute with a shot after a successful corner kick. Fiorentina managed to get back into the game quickly, and in the 37th minute Dusan Valahovic scored on a rebound and equalized for the Purples. But unfortunately, Fiorentina continue with the same ability as the rest of the season and in the 71st minute, the former Italian national team player, Fabio Cavalierla, scored with a great kick with a touch and set the result of the game, 1: 2 To Sampdoria.
Another result: Crotone Sassuolo 2: 1 (Adam Onas scored for the hosts, Domenico Bardi and Francesco Capote scored for the Greens).