Lautaro Martinez managed three consecutive games on the scoresheet as his sole goal saw Inter Milan beat Hellas Verona 1-0 at San Siro. The Nerazzurri just needed an extra time to get the better of Parma in the Coppa Italia midweek and entered Saturday's game without Romelu Lukaku and Marcelo Brozovic, reports Xinhua news agency.
Lautaro got the job done in the opening minutes as the World Cup winner sent the ball into the net after a series of ricochets. The Argentinean had doubled the lead in the second half as he dinked it over an on-rushing goalkeeper, but it was wiped out as Lautaro had a foul in the build-up.
The win, coupled with Juve's frustrating 5-1 defeat to Napoli on Saturday, allowed Inter to level the Bianconeri on 37 points, but still rank fourth due to an inferior goal difference. Another Milanese club AC Milan suffered a different fortune on Saturday, as they fought back from 2-0 down to draw with Lecce.
Theo Hernandez's own goal and Federico Baschirotto's header let the home side establish a 2-0 lead before the break, but Rafael Leao's strike from a tricky angle and Davide Calabria's header saw Milan claim a back-to-back 2-2 stalemate.
Milan overtook Juve to second place, but table leaders Napoli run away with a 9-point advantage. Elsewhere, Cremonese lost 3-2 to Monza on home turf. With a poor start of seven draws and 11 defeats, Cremonese sacked head coach Massimiliano Alvini.