Inter Milan preserved their place at the top of Serie A on Sunday with a hard-fought 1-0 victory away to Atalanta, maintaining a narrow one-point advantage over city rivals AC Milan.
Lautaro Martinez struck the decisive goal in Bergamo, his league-leading ninth of the campaign, to settle a finely balanced contest that could easily have swung either way. Inter’s win ensured they stayed ahead of Milan, who had earlier swept past Verona 3-0 at San Siro.
The match was lively from the outset, with both sides creating clear openings. Marcus Thuram and Atalanta’s Charles De Ketelaere each saw goals ruled out for offside, while Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella squandered a prime chance shortly after Atalanta forward Luis Henrique was denied by goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi.
The breakthrough arrived when Martinez capitalised on a costly error from Berat Djimsiti, who conceded possession just outside his own penalty area. The Argentine forward reacted quickly, drilling a left-footed finish past Carnesecchi to give Inter the lead and tilt the momentum firmly in the visitors’ favour.
Atalanta pushed hard for an equaliser but ultimately fell short, suffering only their second home defeat of the season. Despite the loss, there were positives for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, who have shown renewed intensity since Raffaele Palladino replaced Ivan Juric last month. However, they remain 10th in the table, five points adrift of the European qualification places.
Their best chance to rescue a point came late on, when Lazar Samardzic was teed up by De Ketelaere with just three minutes remaining, only to lose his footing at the crucial moment.
Earlier in the day, AC Milan kept pace with Inter thanks to a convincing 3-0 home win over Verona, highlighted by a long-awaited breakthrough from Christopher Nkunku.
Nkunku doubled Milan’s lead two minutes after the restart, converting a penalty he had won himself to end a Serie A goal drought dating back to February, when he was still at Chelsea. Five minutes later, the French forward added his second of the afternoon with a simple tap-in, sealing the result and extending Milan’s unbeaten league run to 15 matches.
The 28-year-old’s only previous goal for Milan since his €37 million move from Chelsea in August had come in the Italian Cup against Lecce in September.
Milan had taken control just before halftime through Christian Pulisic, who continued his outstanding form with his eighth goal in 11 Serie A appearances. Despite missing around a month of the season through injury, Pulisic has now been directly involved in 50 league goals since joining Milan in 2023.
For Verona, the defeat leaves them rooted in the relegation zone, two points behind Genoa, who sit just outside the bottom three ahead of their meeting with Roma on Monday.
Napoli remain firmly in the title race after a comfortable 2-0 victory at Cremonese, staying two points behind Inter in third place.
Rasmus Hojlund continued his prolific form, taking his tally to nine goals in all competitions. Fresh from lifting the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, Napoli dominated from the opening whistle and were rewarded in the 13th minute when Hojlund reacted quickest to a deflection to score from close range.
The Denmark international struck again moments before halftime, calmly finishing after Alessio Zerbin inadvertently diverted Matteo Politano’s cross into his path.
Hojlund has now scored six goals in 12 Serie A appearances this season, already surpassing his output from the entirety of last season’s Premier League campaign with Manchester United.
“I’m getting better every season,” Hojlund said after the match. “When I was at Atalanta I was younger. Now I have more experience from playing in the Premier League and the Champions League, and I’m surrounded by very good players.”
Elsewhere, Bologna’s recent struggles continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Sassuolo, leaving them seventh in the table and without a win in four league matches.
