CREMONA, ITALY (AFP) – Lautaro Martinez shot Inter Milan into second place in Serie A with both goals in Saturday’s 2-1 win at winless Cremonese, while Atalanta cruised past Sampdoria 2-0 and into the Champions League spots.
Argentina striker Martinez made sure Inter bounced back from losing to Empoli last Sunday and David Okereke’s 11th-minute wonder strike with goals in each half at the Stadio Giovanni Zini in Cremona.
The 25-year-old took his league tally for the season to 11 and moved Inter two points above fourth-placed Atalanta and champions AC Milan, who host Sassuolo in yesterday’s opening match before the Milan derby next weekend.
Simone Inzaghi’s side, who were without suspended stars Milan Skriniar and Nicolo Barella and injured Marcelo Brozovic, are still 10 points behind runaway league leaders Napoli.
“Today we needed to take three points back to Milan and we did that,” Martinez told DAZN.
“I want as many as I can get, and if I do that it means I’m helping the team.
“We can only look at what we need to do because we’ve lost a lot of points and we need to claw some back, not look above us because 13 points was a big gap.”
Both Martinez’s strikes came following great work from Edin Dzeko, Inter drawing level in the 21st minute when Martinez pounced to net after the Bosnia forward’s fine first-time strike was pushed out by Marco Carnesecchi.
And it was Dzeko’s neat pass to Martinez in the 65th minute which allowed his strike partner to move to within two goals of leading scorer Victor Osimhen and secure a deserved three points.
Cremonese remain rooted at the bottom of Serie A after failing to win any of their 20 matches in their first season in Italy’s top flight since 1996. “We’re a competitive team,” insisted Cremonese coach Ballardini.
