Bullish Martinez eyeing treble for Inter after statement win at Atalanta

Lautaro Martinez is gunning for the treble after scoring in Inter Milan’s 2-0 win at Atalanta which moved the Italian champions three points clear at the top of Serie A.

Argentina striker Martinez made sure of a key win in a three-way title battle with his 18th goal of the season in all competitions in the 87th minute in Bergamo, and he was bullish about his team’s chances of repeating a feat Inter achieved under Jose Mourinho 15 years ago.

Simone Inzaghi’s Inter have pulled further away from closest rivals Napoli, who could only manage a goalless draw at lowly Venezia in the day’s early kick-off, and are still in the Champions League and Italian Cup.

Inter face Bayern Munich, who they beat in the 2010 Champions League final, next month while two Milan derbies await in the domestic cup semi-finals which will also be played in April.

“It’s almost like we don’t want to say it but yes,” said Inter skipper Martinez on DAZN when asked about the treble.

“It will be difficult but we’ll go for it because we want to win every match we play. It’s what we work for.”

Martinez’s confident mood came after Inter took a big step towards retaining their league crown in a tetchy match which ended with both teams down to 10 men and Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini sent to the stands.

Carlos Augusto put Inter ahead eight minutes after half-time, taking advantage of distracted Atalanta defending immediately after a five-minute pause in the match for a fan who needed medical assistance.

– Inter take control –

The Brazilian headed home Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner and the champions never looked back from that point.

Inter’s cause was helped by Ederson being booked twice within a matter of seconds, for dissent and then sarcastically applauding referee