Serie A: Lautaro Martinez fires Inter to 1-0 victory over AC Milan in derby
Feb 06, 2023
Milan [Italy], February 6 : Lautaro Martinez continued his brilliant start to the year as he helped Inter Milan register a 1-0 victory over AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina on Sunday.
Martinez has been in terrific form since helping Argentina win the World Cup in December, and he scored seven goals in his last eight games as Inter maintained second place in Serie A with its second win in less than three weeks against its arch-rival.
Martinez's goal was his 12th of the season, placing him four goals behind Serie A leader Victor Osimhen, who scored two more on Sunday to help Napoli beat lowly Spezia 3-0.
Inter are 13 points behind Napoli and three points ahead of Roma in third place. Inter are five points ahead of Lazio, Atalanta, and Milan, who have dropped to sixth place after a poor start to the season. Milan's losing streak now stands at seven games.
In the 10th minute, Martnez headed narrowly wide of the right post. Martinez performed better in the 34th minute when he escaped Simon Kjaer at the near post to head in a corner, which took a deflection from the Milan defender on its way in.
Late in the game, Romelu Lukaku felt he had scored his first league goal since August, but the whistle had already gone for a foul on Malick Thiaw by him.
Meanwhile, at Camp Nou in La Liga, Barcelona increased their La Liga lead to eight points with second-half goals from Jordi Alba, Pablo Gavi, and Raphinha in a 3-0 home win over Sevilla.
The hosts were in command from the start but didn't score until after the break when substitute Franck Kessie set up Alba inside the box for a first-touch effort to the goalkeeper's left.
Raphinha ran down the right and delivered a lovely low cross to Gavi, who tapped in a little more than 10 minutes later to make it 2-0.
Raphinha scored the third goal in the 79th minute from a point-blank Alba cross.
Barcelona leads the table with 53 points, eight more than Real Madrid in second place and 14 more than Real Sociedad in third place. Sevilla are 16th in LaLiga with 21 points, two above the relegation zone, after winning only five of their 20 games this season.
