Atalanta’s 11-match winning streak in Serie A ended with a 1-1 draw at Lazio, but Marco Brescianini’s 88th-minute equaliser kept them top of the table.
Fourth-placed Lazio dominated the first half in Rome and were rewarded in the 27th minute when Nicolò Rovella played a high through ball to Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, who cut inside the box and sent a bouncing volley into the net to break. But Gian Piero Gasperini’s relentless side kept pushing and earned a draw in a thrilling finish to the game.
Both sides had several chances to score late on before Brescianini tapped into an open goal with two minutes to go after Ademola Lookman set him up him from the left.
Inter’s coach, Simone Inzaghi, reaffirmed his faith in Lautaro Martínez after he ended his goal drought in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Cagliari that kept the Nerazzurri at the top of Serie A.
Inter’s skipper had not scored for his club since 3 November in a 1-0 win over Venezia. But the Argentinian striker got back on the scoresheet in the 71st minute with a volley to put his team 2-0 up. Inzaghi praised Martinez’s resilience despite his recent struggles.
“Naturally, this situation was weighing on him, though we told him to relax and that he continued to give the team so much with his work. Lautaro [Martínez] will never be a problem for Inter, only a resource,” Inzaghi told the Dazn streaming service.
Alessandro Bastoni’s header and Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty sealed Inter’s fifth consecutive away win. Inzaghi praised his side’s hard work from set pieces and the contributions of players such as Federico Dimarco, Calhanoglu and Kristjan Asllani.
“At the end of the first half, we congratulated the team on their performance and knew we just had to keep going against a tenacious Cagliari side,” Inzaghi added.
The manager was upbeat as he set his sights on Inter’s fourth consecutive Supercoppa title and a 21st Scudetto after lifting the title last season. “This exciting 2024 ends with the 20th Scudetto that will forever unite us with the fans and directors, but now we go to Saudi Arabia for the Supercoppa hoping to win it for the fourth year in a row.”
Inter are a point behind Atalanta with a game in hand. The two sides will meet in the semi-finals of the Supercoppa Italiana in Saudi Arabia on 2 January with the winner advancing to face either Juventus or Milan. “We know that we are Inter, we have objectives and it is only right to declare them. It takes a lot of sacrifice, January and February will have us playing constantly, but I am fortunate to have players ready to give their all, whether for 95 minutes or five, and that is important,” Inzaghi added.
Patrick Vieira’s Genoa won at Empoli 2-1 with goals from Milan Badelj and Caleb Ekuban. Lautaro Valenti’s header eight minutes into stoppage time gave Parma a 2-1 win against Monza and ruined the debut of the bottom-placed side’s new coach, Salvatore Bocchetti.