Martinez Fires Inter Six Points Clear, Napoli Squeeze Past Sassuolo

Lautaro Martinez fired Inter Milan six points clear at the top of Serie A with the only goal in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Udinese, as Napoli responded to the pressure by beating Sassuolo 1-0.

Martinez expertly poked home the winner in the 20th minute in Udine to continue Inter’s nine-match unbeaten run in Italy’s top flight ahead of Tuesday’s key Champions League clash with Arsenal.

Inter were the better team from start to finish, putting pressure on Udinese high up the pitch as Cristian Chivu wants his team to do.

“What we’re displaying on the pitch is a testament to the desire of these players, because it’s not easy to change habits,” Chivu told DAZN.

“We defend high up the pitch and we start with pressure from the forwards and it comes from their work, the desire for our midfielders to win duels and from the courage of our defenders in maintaining a high line.”

Inter have collected 25 points from a possible 27 since losing the Milan derby in late November and again showed a ruthlessness in dealing with the smaller sides that both AC Milan and Napoli have lacked.

Milan have dropped a host of points to teams they should beat, starting back in August against Jamie Vardy’s Cremonese, who remain the only team to take three points off Massimiliano Allegri’s side.

Inter, meanwhile, have the opposite problem, with a poor track record in matches against high-profile opposition, a weakness which will be tested by Premier League leaders Arsenal at the San Siro.

Four straight wins at the start of the league phase of the Champions League were followed up by two defeats which have left direct qualification for the last 16 in doubt.

Napoli stayed six points behind Inter in third after Stanislav Lobotka’s first club goal in over three years snapped a run of three straight draws.

Slovakia midfielder Lobotka smashed home on the rebound in the seventh minute in Naples, breaking a scoring duck which stretched back to the opening day of Napoli’s triumphant 2022/23 season. It decided what was otherwise an even contest.

The champions are level on 43 points with second-placed Milan, who host Lecce on Sunday.

They trail their local rivals Inter even though the seven-time European champions have not lost since the opening day of the season.

Antonio Conte’s Napoli next travel to Denmark to take on FC Copenhagen in a match which will be crucial to their fate in the Champions League, with both teams at risk of falling into the elimination places.

And an already injury-stricken team missing kep players Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Andre-Frank Anguissa might be without three more players as Eljif Elmas, Amir Rrahmani and Matteo Politano all suffered knocks.

Conte was shown expressing his frustration in the stands when Politano went down late on holding his hamstring after taking a snap shot, and the Italy attacker need treatment on the field immediately after the final whistle.

“We’ll know more in the coming days. Elmas’ head was spinning a bit due to the flu, apart from that we don’t have any news,” said Conte’s assistant Cristian Stellini.

“The boys were great in spite of the difficulty (with injuries), which we don’t how long will last.”

Juventus, in fourth, trail Inter by 10 points but have been improving under Luciano Spalletti of late and are heavy favourites to win at Cagliari in Saturday’s late match.